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Ultrasmall SnO2 nanocrystals with adjustable density embedded in N-doped hollow mesoporous carbon spheres as anode for Li+/Na+ batteries

  • Energy materials
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Abstract

SnO2 has been widely studied in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) because of its high theoretical specific capacity and reversible alloying reaction. Herein, we reported a novel strategy of confinement growth to implant nano-sized SnO2 crystals into N-doped hollow mesoporous carbon spheres (NHMCS) to form SnO2@NHMCS composite with unique nanoscale voids. The nanocrystals (~ 5 nm) decrease the required activation energy for redox reactions, and the carbon shell of NHMCS improves the conductivity and structural stability. It is worth noting that this method can effectively control the filling degree of ultrasmall nanocrystals in NHMCS and adjust the nanosize of voids between nanocrystals and NHMCS. When SnO2@NHMCS is evaluated as an anode material for LIBs, it is proved to exhibit high reversible capacity and stable cycling performance, which is attributted to the appropriate content of active components and the ample buffer space for conversion reaction of SnO2 and alloying reaction of Sn. It also shows excellent electrochemical property as anode material for sodium-ion batteries.

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Acknowledgements

The funding support from the “Qinglan project” of Jiangsu Province (2018-12) and a Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions is acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225002, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaoyu Wu, Xiue Zhang, Huayu Wu, Lingli Bu, Lin Xu, Ming Chen & Guowang Diao

  2. College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou Polytechnic Institute, Yangzhou, 225127, People’s Republic of China

    Chen Qian

  3. Department of Chemistry, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA, 70504, USA

    Hui Yan

  4. Graduate School of Convergence Science and Technology, Seoul National University, 145 Gwanggyo-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, 16229, Republic of Korea

    Yuanzhe Piao

  5. Advanced Institutes of Convergence Technology, 145 Gwanggyo-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, 16229, Republic of Korea

    Yuanzhe Piao

  6. Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy Materials Chemistry (Ministry of Education), College of Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, People’s Republic of China

    Ming Chen

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  1. Xiaoyu Wu
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Wu, X., Qian, C., Zhang, X. et al. Ultrasmall SnO2 nanocrystals with adjustable density embedded in N-doped hollow mesoporous carbon spheres as anode for Li+/Na+ batteries. J Mater Sci 55, 14464–14476 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-020-05039-x

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