Tin-carbon composite submicron spheres constructed by molten salt synthesis and their high lithium storage performance

Abstract

To effectively alleviate the severe agglomeration and huge volume expansion of tin oxides during charge and discharge processes, tin-carbon composite (SnOx@C-M) submicron spheres are constructed in this work using a molten salt-assisted method to improve their lithium storage performance. SnOx@C-M submicron spheres mainly comprises SnOx nuclei encapsulated by an amorphous carbon layer. The aggregation of SnOx nanoparticles can be enhanced by the surface carbon layer, allowing the significant volume expansion during cycling to be buffered. As expected, decent cycling stability and multiplicative properties were realized in the SnOx@C-M electrode material. Hence, this work is expected to provide a workable method to improve the performance of tin-carbon composites.