Dual-stable engineering enables high-performance Zn2SnO4-based lithium-ion battery anode

Abstract

The promising high-capacity anode material of Zn2SnO4 suffers from large volume expansion and poor conductivity during cycle, and hence its practical application in lithium-ion batteries is blocked seriously. Herein, to achieve high capacity and improved cyclic stability of Zn2SnO4-based anode, we introduce a dual-stable engineering strategy that the Zn2SnO4 is encapsulated within a porous carbon shell and a void structure is constructed between the inner Zn2SnO4 and outer carbon shell simultaneously. The as-fabricated Zn2SnO4-based composite is therefore referred to as Zn2SnO4 @[email protected] It is demonstrated that the combined action of the porous carbon and the void effectively suppresses the volume effect of the Zn2SnO4 and enhances the electrochemical kinetics of the electrodes and hence the structural stability and electrochemical kinetics of the Zn2SnO4 @[email protected] are improved significantly. As a result, the Zn2SnO4 @[email protected] delivers 961.5 mA h g−1 after 350 cycles at 200 mA g−1 and 438.2 mA h g−1 after 600 cycles at 1000 mA g−1, thereby having potential application in advanced lithium-ion battery anodes.