To enhance the electrochemical performance of SiO, a simple electroless plating and ultrasonication method is used to prepare SiO/Cu/expanded graphite(EG) composite. Electrochemical results show that the electrode has a reversible specific capacity of 836 mAh/g and the capacity retention ratio is 90.2% in the 100th cycle at 200 mA/g current density (25 degrees C). Moreover, real time stress measurements quantitatively show that EG effectively suppresses stress development in the electrodes, which results in good cycling performance. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.