Meso-porous Si-coated carbon nanotube (CNT) composite powders were prepared by combining a sol-gel method and the magnesiothermic reduction process. Meso-porous Si-coated CNT electrodes exhibit excellent cycle and rate performances as anodes in Li-ion batteries (LIBs), which can be attributed to the efficient accommodation of volume change from meso-porous Si structure and the enhanced electrical conductivity from CNT core. This simple synthesis and subsequent reduction process provide a scalable route for the large-scale production of Si-C composite nanostructures, which can be utilized in a variety of applications, such as in photocatalysis, photoelectrochemical cells (PECs), and LIBs.

SnO₂@Co₃O₄ hollow nano-spheres have been prepared using the template-based sol-gel coating technique and their electrochemical performance as an anode for lithium-ion battery (LIB) was investigated. The size of synthesized hollow spheres was about 50 nm with the shell thickness of 7–8 nm. The fabricated SnO₂@Co₃O₄ hollow nano-sphere electrode exhibited an extraordinary reversible capacity (962 mAh·g^-1 after 100 cycles at 100 mA·g^-1), good cyclability, and high rate capability, which was attributed to the Co-enhanced reversibility of the Li₂O reduction reaction during cycling.