Abstract
A commercially applicable and simple process for the preparation of aggregation-free metal oxide hollow nanospheres is developed by applying nanoscale Kirkendall diffusion to a large-scale spray drying process. The precursor powders prepared by spray drying are transformed into homogeneous metal oxide hollow nanospheres through a simple post-treatment process. Aggregation-free SnO2 hollow nanospheres are selected as the first target material for lithium ion storage applications. Amorphous carbon microspheres with uniformly dispersed Sn metal nanopowder are prepared in the first step of the post-treatment process under a reducing atmosphere. The post-treatment of the Sn-C composite powder at 500 °C under an air atmosphere produces carbon- and aggregation-free SnO2 hollow nanospheres through nanoscale Kirkendall diffusion. The hollow and filled SnO2 nanopowders exhibit different cycling performances, with their discharge capacities after 300 cycles being 643 and 280 mA h g−1, respectively, at a current density of 2 A g−1. The SnO2 hollow nanospheres with high structural stability exhibit superior cycling and rate performances for lithium ion storage compared to the filled ones.
Highlights
In recent years, conversion chemical reactions employing nanoscale Kirkendall diffusion have received significant attention as a method for producing hollow nanospheres[16,17,18,19,20,21,22]
Transition metal oxide hollow nanospheres can be successfully used as anode materials for lithium ion batteries (LIBs) as a result of their short Li-ion diffusion length and good accommodation of volume changes resulting from repeated insertion and extraction of Li4–6,23–28
Application of the nanoscale Kirkendall diffusion process in a large-scale spray drying process enabled the preparation of metal oxide hollow nanospheres
Summary
Conversion chemical reactions employing nanoscale Kirkendall diffusion have received significant attention as a method for producing hollow nanospheres[16,17,18,19,20,21,22]. Metal nanopowders formed by a reduction reaction in aqueous media are transformed into hollow nanospheres by nanoscale Kirkendall diffusion; that preparation of homogeneous nanopowders is not carried out without aggregation. The development of a simple process for large-scale production of metal oxide hollow nanospheres remains a large challenge if widespread application is to take place. A simple and commercially applicable process to produce aggregation-free metal oxide hollow nanospheres has been developed, which uses large-scale spray drying. The precursor powders prepared by the spray drying process are transformed into homogeneous metal oxide hollow nanospheres by a simple two-step post-treatment process. The detailed formation mechanism of aggregation-free SnO2 hollow nanospheres by the nanoscale Kirkendall diffusion process was studied by investigating morphological changes of the spray dried powders during the post-treatment process under reducing and oxidizing atmospheres
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