Carbon-coated SnO2@C with hierarchically porous structures and graphite layers inside for a high-performance lithium-ion battery

Yao Li; Shenmin Zhu; Qinglei Liu; Jiajun Gu; Zaiping Guo; Zhixin Chen; Chuanliang Feng; Di Zhang; Won-Jin Moon

doi:10.1039/C1JM14290A

Carbon-coated SnO₂@C with hierarchically porous structures and graphite layers inside for a high-performance lithium-ion battery†

Yao Li,^a Shenmin Zhu,*^a Qinglei Liu,^a Jiajun Gu,^a Zaiping Guo,^b Zhixin Chen,^b Chuanliang Feng,^a Di Zhang*^a and Won-Jin Moon^c

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
E-mail: zhangdi@sjtu.edu.cn

^b The Faculty of Engineering, University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia

^c Gwang ju Center, Korea Basic Science Institute, 300 YongBong-Dong, Buk-Gu, Gwang ju, Korea

Abstract

A high-performance anode material was prepared from a hierarchically structured activated carbon which contains in situgraphene and nano-graphite. The activated carbon was immersed in a solution of SnCl₂·2H₂O and subjected to ultrasound. As a result, nanoparticles of SnO₂ were uniformly deposited on the surface of the activated carbon. The composite material was then coated with a thin layer of carbon by soaking it in a sucrose solution, followed by carbonization of the adsorbed sucrose at 500 °C. The resulting composite showed an outstanding high-rate cycling performance that can deliver an initial discharge capacity of 1417 mAh g⁻¹ and maintain a discharge capacity of more than 400 mAh g⁻¹ after 100 cycles at a high current density of 1000 mA g⁻¹. This outstanding electrochemical performance is likely to be related to a unique combination of the excellent electrical conductivity of the activated carbon with graphite layers formed inside, its hierarchical pore structure which enhances lithium-ion transportation, and the carbon coating which alleviates the effects of volume changes, shortens the distance for Li⁺ diffusion, facilitates the transmission of electrons, and keeps the structure stable.

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Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C1JM14290A
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 31 Aug 2011
Accepted: 02 Nov 2011
First published: 16 Dec 2011

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J. Mater. Chem., 2012,22, 2766-2773

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Carbon-coated SnO₂@C with hierarchically porous structures and graphite layers inside for a high-performance lithium-ion battery

Y. Li, S. Zhu, Q. Liu, J. Gu, Z. Guo, Z. Chen, C. Feng, D. Zhang and W. Moon, J. Mater. Chem., 2012, 22, 2766 DOI: 10.1039/C1JM14290A

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Journal of Materials Chemistry