Interfacial Engineering of Self-Supported SnO2 Nanorod Arrays as Anode for Flexible Lithium-Ion Batteries

Abstract

Self-supported electrodes have become increasingly important for the development of flexible electronic devices. Herein, SnO2 nanorod arrays are firmly glued onto amorphous SnO2 coated Cu foils, to form robust self-supported anodes for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Without the use of binders and conducting additives, the as-prepared anodes exhibit outstanding performance in terms of excellent cycling stability and high rate capability and are successfully assembled into flexible cells. The excellent performance of the as-prepared anodes can be attributed to the interfacial engineering: the amorphous SnO2 interlayer not only glues SnO2 nanorods and the conductive substrate together, but also buffers the stress induced by volume expansion of the SnO2 nanorods and facilitates efficient electron transport during the cycling. The outstanding electrochemical performance suggests that the proposed interfacial engineering with the amorphous SnO2 is a simple and promising strategy for constructing high-performance LIBs especially for the emerging flexible batteries.