Fabrication of SiOx Ultra-Fine Nanoparticles by IR nanosecond laser ablation as anode materials for lithium ion battery

•In this work, the oxygen content of the resulting SiOx ultrafine nanoparticles with a Si: O atom ratio of about 1: 1.3, for the first time, are prepared by IR laser ablation and used as anode materials for lithium ion battery.•The large yellow ultrafine SiOx nanoparticles including two phases (SiO1.35 and SiO0.93) are produced at the edge of the ablation area due to the strong heat interaction, when a silicon chip is irradiated by a flat-top high energy infrared laser.•When the synthesized SiOx ultrafine nanoparticles are utilized as anode material for lithium batteries (LIBs), the specific capacity of the electrode is maintained at 344mAhg−1 after 800 cycles. SiOx ultrafine nanoparticles show excellent cycling stability and have a capacity is still comparable to that of the commercialized graphite.