Amorphous MnSiO3 confined in graphene sheets for superior lithium-ion batteries

Abstract

Due to the loosely packed structure, amorphous metal silicate anode could accommodate abundant electrochemical active species, as well as contact tightly with electron donors and electrolyte in Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, the bottleneck in this field is how to improve the conductivity and prevent agglomeration of amorphous metal silicate. Herein, we have put forward a novel MnSiO3/RGO hybrid as anode for LIBs, which is realized by in-situ nanospace-confined formation of amorphous MnSiO3 particles rooted in reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanosheets. Remarkably, the nano-channel of conductive RGO nanosheets provides a confined space for the formation of highly dispersed amorphous MnSiO3 particles, which not only allows for the ultrafast-spreading of Li+ ions and buffers the volume change of anode during lithiation/delithiation processes, but also offers efficient pathway to fast charge transport during the electrochemical process. Benefiting from the reasonable architecture, the MnSiO3/RGO anode delivers a considerable specific capacity of 836.4 mA h g−1 after 200 cycles and also exhibits a remarkable rate performance, which are better than that of previously reported metal silicate-based anode materials in LIBs. Considering the facile fabrication technology and outstanding performance, this work has opened up new opportunities for the development of amorphous metal silicate for high performance LIBs.