Silicon stands out as an exceptionally viable anode material, distinguished by its substantial capacity, plentiful natural reserves, eco-friendliness, and favorable low working potential. Nonetheless, the material’s pronounced volume fluctuations readily induce particle fragmentation, detachment of active components, and repeated disruption of the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer. These factors contribute to a shortened cycle life and rapid capacity fading, thus hindering its practical application. The carbon composite approach can efficiently counteract these issues by capitalizing on silicon’s high capacity and employing carbon as a cushioning agent to diminish volume swelling, thus enhancing the deployment of silicon-based anode materials. This paper offers an exhaustive examination of the lithiation processes involved in Si/C anodes and delves into the strategic utilization of diverse carbon materials, including graphite, graphene, graphdiyne, carbon nanotubes, carbon fibers, MXenes, pitch, heteroatom-doped polymers, biomass-derived carbon, carbon-containing gas-derived carbon, MOFs, and g-C₃N₄ to advance the application of silicon in lithium-ion battery (LIB) anodes. Overall, this paper concentrates on summarizing the current research status and technological advancement and juxtaposes the merits and demerits of various carbon sources in Si/C anodes, thus providing a comprehensive assessment and forward-looking perspective on their future development.

In recent years, transition metal oxides (TMOs) have emerged as promising candidates for anode materials in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) owing to their high theoretical capacities. Regrettably, most TMOs exhibit poor electronic/ionic conductivity and undergo substantial volume expansion during the lithiation/delithiation processes. In this study, an electrostatic spinning method using polyacrylonitrile, graphene, and iron(III) acetylacetonate as precursors was employed to synthesize the Fe₃O₄@G/C composite through carbon coating and graphene doping. The composition, phase structure, and morphology of the Fe₃O₄@G/C composite were thoroughly investigated. The electrochemical performance of the Fe₃O₄@G/C composite as a lithium-ion battery anode was evaluated through a continuous charge–discharge cycling test. After 100 cycles at a current density of 0.1 A/g, the specific capacity of the Fe₃O₄@G/C material remained at 595.8 mAh/g. Additionally, the incorporation of graphene leads to a reduction in the electron orbital energy of Fe, which was verified by comparing the density of states (DOS) before and after the doping. Simultaneously, the electrochemical performance of CoO@G/C and NiO@G/C composites further demonstrates that doping transition metal oxides with graphene can enhance their performance as anodes for lithium-ion batteries. We anticipate that this design concept will open new avenues for the development of transition metal oxides (TMOs) and propel their adoption in practical applications.