Chamber-confined effect of SnO2 nanorods encapsulated within a porous capsule-like carbon enables high lithium storage

Abstract

Improved structural stability and conductivity are urgently demanded for SnO2 materials to be lithium-ion battery anodes. To this end, here a seemingly capsule-like composite composed of SnO2 nanorods encapsulated within a porous capsule-like carbon matrix (SnO2 [email protected]) has been synthesized by a well-designed method. It is thus revealed that the structural advantages of the SnO2 [email protected] including one-dimensional nanoscale sizes, porous carbon encapsulation, large specific surface area and especially chamber-confined effect can synergistically contribute to the good structure durability and enhanced electrochemical kinetics for lithium storage. Therefore, the as-synthesized SnO2 [email protected] composite, as a promising lithium-ion battery anode, shows desirable cyclic performance, releasing high capacities of 985 and 852 mAh/g at 200 and even 1000 mA/g after 300 and 550 cycles, respectively.