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Facile synthesis of ultrafine SnO2 nanoparticles on graphene nanosheets via thermal decomposition of tin-octoate as anode for lithium ion batteries

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Abstract

We demonstrate a facile synthesis of ultrafine SnO2 nanoparticles within graphene nanosheets (GNSs) via thermal decomposition of tin-octoate, in which tin-octoate is firstly blended with GNSs followed by annealing in air at a low temperature (350 °C) and a short time (1 h). As anode for lithium ion batteries, the SnO2/GNSs displays superior cycle and rate performance, delivering reversible capacities of 803 and 682 mA h/g at current densities of 200 and 500 mA/g after 120 cycles, respectively, much higher than that of pure SnO2 and GNSs counterparts (143 and 310 mA h/g at 500 mA/g after 120 cycles, respectively). The enhanced electrochemical performance is attributed to the ultrafine SnO2 nanoparticle size and introduction of GNSs. GNSs prevent the aggregation of the ultrafine SnO2 nanoparticles, which alleviate the stress and also provide more electrochemically active sites for lithium insertion and extraction. Moreover, GNSs with large specific surface area (~363 m2/g) act as a good electrical conductor which greatly improves the electrode conductivity and also an excellent buffer matrix to tolerate the severe volume changes originated from the Li-Sn alloying-dealloying. This work provides a straight-forward synthetic approach for the design of novel composite anode materials with superior electrochemical performance.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51402232 and 51521065), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities in China, the Natural Science Basis Research Plan in Shaanxi Province of China (Grant No. 2015JQ5131) and the Open Fund of the State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices (South China University of Technology, Grant No. 2016-skllmd-04). The authors also thank Ms. Yazhu Dai and Mr. Chuansheng Ma for their help with SEM/TEM measurements, carried out at International Center for Dielectric Research (ICDR), Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Lab of Electrical Insulation and Power Equipment, Center of Nanomaterials for Renewable Energy (CNRE), School of Electrical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, People’s Republic of China

    Jinkai Wang, Sanmu Xie, Daxian Cao, Xuan Lu & Hongkang Wang

  2. Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, People’s Republic of China

    Lingjie Meng

  3. Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, People’s Republic of China

    Guidong Yang

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  1. Jinkai Wang
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Correspondence to Lingjie Meng or Hongkang Wang.

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Wang, J., Xie, S., Cao, D. et al. Facile synthesis of ultrafine SnO2 nanoparticles on graphene nanosheets via thermal decomposition of tin-octoate as anode for lithium ion batteries. J Nanopart Res 18, 280 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-016-3590-z

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