## 1 Introduction  
Ever since Sony Corporation first commercialized lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) in 1991, LIBs have played a critical role in enabling the emergence of electric vehicles (EVs) and the widespread availability of portable electronic devices such as laptops, smartphones, and video cameras [1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7]. However, graphite, as the anode material of traditional LIBs, has almost reached its performance limit for energy storage, and therefore increasing the specific capacity of the anode material remains a challenge [8; 9; 10; 11; 12; 13; 14]. Silicon has been considered a promising anode candidate due to its low lithium-uptake potential (<0.5 V vs. Li\({}^{+}\)/Li) and unparalleled theoretical capacity (3579 mAh g\({}^{-1}\) due to the formation of Li\({}_{15}\)Si\({}_{4}\)), which is 10 times higher than that of a conventional graphite anode (372 mAh g\({}^{-1}\)) [15; 16; 17; 18]. However, the practical application of Si as an anode material has been severely hindered by large volume changes and the instability of the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formed on the Si surface during electrochemical cycling [19; 20]. Si undergoes large volume changes (~300%) during the Si-Li alloying process [21]. The mechanical stress induced by the large volume expansion causes surface cracking and pulverization of anodes, and thus a loss of electrical contact between Si and the current collector. To mitigate the adverse mechanical effects and improve the electrochemical performance of Si anodes, zero-dimension (0D) Si nanoparticle (Si NP) anodes have attracted much attention in the past few decades [22; 23]. Smaller particle sizes are reported to reduce particle-level fracturing and give better electrochemical performance than larger particle sizes [9]. It was found that the surface cracking and particle fractures caused by the volume expansion of Si particles during lithiation did not occur when the particle size was below 150 nm [24]. However, the large volume change can still cause a detachment of Si NP anodes from the current collector during long-term cycling [25; 26; 27]. In recent years, one-dimensional (1D) silicon materials have been perceived as a promising anode candidate for LIBs due to their high energy capacity and long cycle life. [PERSON] et al. 's seminal work reported the successful fabrication of a Si nanowire (Si NW) anode on a stainless-steel substrate [28]. This structure better accommodates the enormous volume change of Si and maintains its mechanical integrity [27; 28; 29; 30; 31; 32; 33]. The 1D geometry also allows for efficient electron transport along the axial direction [34]. There are two main approaches to synthesizing 1D Si nanomaterials: bottom-up approaches such as the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) method and solvothermal method, and top-down approaches such as metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) [34]. The diameter of nanowires is a crucial parameter for the specific capacity and rate capability of the anode. Three kinds of Si NWs with different diameters (65, 210, and 490 nm) were synthesized by [PERSON] et al. using a gold catalyst with different film thicknesses [35]. The NWs with the smallest diameter (65 nm) exhibited the highest specific capacity and the best rate capability, which can be attributed to the shorter Li\({}^{+}\) diffusion pathway and a fast and homogeneous lithiation [35]. However, the preparation of Si NPs and the growth of Si NWs are very time-consuming processes, leading to a very high production cost. In particular, it is difficult to handle Si NPs without aggregation, and to generate electrical conductivity between Si NPs and the current collector. In addition, the synthesis of a Si nanostructure requires toxic precursors, which is not environmentally friendly [36]. To solve these problems, many researchers, including the authors of this paper, have been attempting to use waste silicon powders from semiconductor manufacturing processes as a raw material for LIB anodes [37; 38; 39; 40; 41; 42; 43].