The race on the silicon carbon anode track is quietly changing pace.

The clear signal conveyed by CIBF in 2025 is that the industry has bid farewell to the "first half" of simply pursuing performance indicators such as specific capacity, and officially entered the "second half" of testing the stability and consistency of large-scale production.

After the performance breakthrough, who can steadily and reliably produce the product has become a new decisive point.

Industry consensus: Performance meets standards, craftsmanship improves

During the CIBF exhibition, the industry showcased multiple common developments in silicon-based anodes.

Firstly, in terms of core indicators, the specific capacity of silicon carbon negative electrodes generally exceeds 2000mAh/g, reaching nearly half of the theoretical specific capacity of silicon (4200mAh/g).

Research has shown that when the specific capacity of silicon carbon materials exceeds 2200mAh/g, it may support battery systems with energy densities exceeding 400Wh/kg.

Secondly, the proportion of silicon doping is steadily increasing, and the target for the consumer electronics (mobile phone) sector this year is 15%, corresponding to an energy density of 300Wh/kg.

Silicon carbon enterprises have been able to achieve a maximum silicon doping ratio of 20%, and some high-capacity battery tests have achieved a silicon doping ratio close to 50%. Meanwhile, the expansion rate of the polarizer can be controlled below 22%.

In terms of production capacity, multiple enterprises have introduced 100 kilogram fluidized bed equipment for verification, preparing for the deployment of production lines with an annual output of 100 tons and 1000 tons. The 200 kilogram equipment has also entered the experimental stage.

The trend of supply chain integration is obvious, and some enterprises have achieved nearby matching by binding upstream silane gas production capacity to promote mass production process.

The positive progress of the industry has driven capital investment and capacity expansion. According to incomplete statistics from Gaogong Lithium Battery, from January to May this year, the planned expansion scale in the silicon-based negative electrode field is close to 400000 tons (including two porous carbon projects), involving an investment amount of over 35 billion yuan.

The clear application side demand is supporting this round of expansion.

Consumer electronics remains the main field of silicon carbon technology application at present. The latest "Qinghai Lake Battery 3.0" released by Honor adopts technology with a silicon content of over 10%, achieving a capacity of 8000mAh and an energy density of 821Wh/L. Market rumors suggest that the Apple iPhone 17 Air series may use silicon carbon anodes, further boosting market expectations.

In addition, high-end power cylindrical batteries and aviation power batteries (such as eVTOL) are considered important growth drivers for silicon carbon anodes in the future.

For large-scale applications in the field of power, the overall iteration direction of silicon carbon anode includes: increasing the silicon doping ratio, reducing internal resistance and improving fast charging performance through coating and other technologies, and effectively controlling the expansion under high silicon doping.

In the field of power, there are currently technological solutions that can achieve a specific capacity of over 250Wh/kg and 6C fast charging for silicon carbon anodes.

In terms of aviation power batteries, based on silicon carbon, it can achieve a cycle life of 1000 cycles, pass the 200 degree Celsius hot box puncture test, and support continuous discharge at a high rate of 12C, providing support for 100kg load flight.

Based on the above progress and expansion plan, the cost reduction goal of silicon carbon anode (gas-phase method) is becoming increasingly clear, and the industry is anchoring a target price of 100000 yuan/ton.

Disagreements and Challenges: The Battle of Routes, the Difficulties of Mass Production

Under the consensus, there are still differences and challenges within the silicon carbon industry in terms of technology route selection and mass production practice.

Firstly, influenced by the competition of listed companies, carbon skeleton is becoming a key point for differentiation of silicon carbon negative electrode products.

In the overall technical roadmap, whether it is biomass based or resin based, most enterprises use carbonization activation based methods to prepare porous carbon.

Recently, mesoporous carbon has been proposed as a new route and has received bets from companies such as Shanghai Xiba and Ningde New Energy. It adopts a "bottom-up" synthesis method of chemical self-assembly, which can support uniform size of porous carbon and strong overall controllability. Based on this, the concept of 'ordered silicon carbon' has been proposed to achieve high cyclic stability by dispersing stress.

In addition, the potential application areas of mesoporous carbon also include conductive slurries and benchmarking against carbon nanotubes. Some companies have stated that mesoporous carbon modified as a conductive paste has a significantly improved diffusion coefficient compared to carbon nanotubes, especially suitable for enhancing the rate performance of positive electrode lithium iron phosphate.

Secondly, solid-state batteries and new scenario batteries have raised higher requirements for the application of silicon carbon. The pure silicon and nano silicon routes are receiving attention, and nano silicon with D50 particle size of 5-35nm has been applied in solid-state batteries.

Some companies have pointed out. On the basis of nano silicon, multiple carbon sources are used to establish a skeleton structure, which can avoid the disadvantage of low compaction of porous carbon.

Research has shown that controlling the size of silicon particles below 5 nanometers can more effectively reduce expansion damage, but there is still a way to go to achieve this goal, and carbon skeletons may not be necessary at that time.

Meanwhile, the silicon oxygen pathway has not disappeared. Some companies have stated that their silicon oxide products have better kinetic characteristics and can withstand high rate instantaneous discharge at low SOC states. They have advantages over gas-phase silicon carbon in eVTOL power batteries and have been recognized by downstream customers.

The silicon alloy route has also been adopted by leading power battery companies, and in their mass-produced high specific energy semi-solid state batteries, the silicon-based negative electrode has a specific capacity of up to 2700mAh/g.

The introduction of silicon alloys in solid-state battery systems is mainly aimed at suppressing silicon expansion and interfacial reactions between silicon particles and solid-state electrolytes at high specific capacity.

The third challenge is the stability of mass production.

The conversion rate of porous carbon preparation is a major test for mass production and cost. Although it has the conditions for a hundred kilogram scale preparation, its conversion efficiency is not clear.

The production process of gas-phase silicon carbon is extremely lengthy. It is reported that starting from polymer resin or coconut shell, it needs to undergo carbonization, purification, activation, passivation, crushing and grading, followed by CVD deposition of silicon, and then one or even two carbon coatings, and finally artificial interfaces.

Some companies have proposed that ensuring product consistency with so many monitoring points and variables is the core test of their mass production.

In addition to self-made materials, silicon carbon negative electrodes also face stability challenges in the electrode preparation process. Silicon carbon materials entering the homogenization process, especially in large-scale twin planet or twin screw homogenization tests that many customers have not yet experienced, are prone to damage to their surface carbon film and internal hollow structure under strong shear force and high temperature, leading to gas production.

For this reason, Gaogong Lithium Battery has learned that some leading consumer electronics customers have begun to verify the dry electrode process for preparing silicon carbon negative electrode sheets. Based on adhesive fibrosis, it can provide assistance in controlling the expansion of silicon carbon negative electrode sheets.

However, currently there are not many enterprises specializing in silicon carbon adhesives, and the research and development of key auxiliary materials and industrial progress are not yet obvious.

Overall, the vision presented by CIBF 2025 is that the silicon carbon negative electrode is transitioning from a performance breakthrough to a critical stage of mass production stability.

The improvement of technical performance has laid the foundation for the industry, but the key to future competition lies in how to solve the challenges of conversion rate, consistency, and process stability in the mass production process. This will also be the core factor determining whether a company can win in the 'second half'.