nano-si/(multi-wall carbon nanotube) (si/mwcnt) composite paper was prepared as flexible electrode for lithium ion batteries by a simple filtration method using sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (cmc) as a dispersing/binding agent, followed by a thermal sintering process. scanning electron microscopy (sem) showed that nanosized si particles were dispersed homogeneously and intertwined by the mwcnt throughout the whole paper electrode. after thermal sintering, si/mwcnt paper electrode exhibited a significantly improved flexibility with a high si content of 35.6 wt% as compared with before sintering, and retained a specific capacity of 942 mah g(-1) after 30 cycles with a capacity fade of 0.46%/cycle. (c) 2012 elsevier ltd. all rights reserved.