To further investigate the increased conductive pathways and improved mechanical property granted by the CNT skeleton structure, AFM and CAFM of Si-SiOx@Cs anodes was conducted. In Fig. and Fig. , the morphologies are in accordance to the previous SEM and TEM results. Combining with the AFM morphologies, the current distribution figures clearly exhibit the conductive pathways, which is the nitrogen-doped carbon layer outside the silicon nanoparticles. The twined CNT skeleton can provide a conductive bridge between carbon-wrapped silicon particles, thus producing more conductive pathways. Si-SiOx@C-2.5 and Si-SiOx@C-5 show similar results in Fig. and Fig. . The Young's modulus was also obtained from AFM analysis. From Fig. , Fig. , Fig. and Fig. , the Young's modulus distribution was exhibited together with morphology. The maximum moduli which the anodes can reach are 924 MPa (Si-SiOx@C), 3.44 GPa (Si-SiOx@C-1.25), 2.05 GPa (Si-SiOx@C-2.5) and 1.44 GPa (Si-SiOx@C-5), respectively. The introduction of CNT skeleton can thus improve the Young's modulus. With higher content of CNTs, the modulus gradually decreases, which is still higher than Si-SiOx@C anode without CNTs. Compared with Si-SiOx@C-1.25, the deficiency of silicon and SiOx@C particles couldn't fill most of the pores formed by the excessive curly CNTs in Si-SiOx@C-2.5 and Si-SiOx@C-5, providing a lower density than the nano-skeleton structure. Granted by the improved mechanical property, the volume expansion of silicon can be effectively withstood, providing a more stable SEI layer. The electrochemical performance of Si-SiOx@Cs anodes was investigated within the potential window from 0.005 V to 2.5 V with lithium metal as the counter electrode.