Amorphous Ultrathin SnO₂ Films by Atomic Layer Deposition on Graphene Network as Highly Stable Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Abstract

Amorphous SnO2 (a-SnO2) thin films were conformally coated onto the surface of reduced graphene oxide (G) using atomic layer deposition (ALD). The electrochemical characteristics of the a-SnO2/G nanocomposites were then determined using cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge/discharge curves. Because the SnO2 ALD films were ultrathin and amorphous, the impact of the large volume expansion of SnO2 upon cycling was greatly reduced. With as few as five formation cycles best reported in the literature, a-SnO2/G nanocomposites reached stable capacities of 800 mAh g(-1) at 100 mA g(-1) and 450 mAh g(-1) at 1000 mA g(-1). The capacity from a-SnO2 is higher than the bulk theoretical values. The extra capacity is attributed to additional interfacial charge storage resulting from the high surface area of the a-SnO2/G nanocomposites. These results demonstrate that metal oxide ALD on high surface area conducting carbon substrates can be used to fabricate high power and high capacity electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries.

Review on the Application of SnO2 in Perovskite Solar Cells

“…An absence of the oxidation peak in the CV is expected for pinhole‐free SnO 2 films. For 1 nm SnO 2 film, the scan rate dependence and the Nernstian peaks‐shaped CV curve indicate the film does not function well in blocking effect . From 2 nm onward, the LTP ALD SnO 2 films fully suppress the oxidation of ferrocyanide even at potential as high as 1.4 V RHE and thus show perfect blocking behavior.…”

Honeycomb-inspired design of ultrafine SnO2@C nanospheres embedded in carbon film as anode materials for high performance lithium- and sodium-ion battery

“…Upon the insertion of Li + and/or Na + into SnO2, huge volume expansion of the host materials is inevitably accompanied, leading to the rapid capacity degradation due to the pulverization and aggregation of the electrode active materials [15]. To solve this volume change problem and effectively stabilize SnO2 nanoparticles, different methods such as configuration of C/SnO2 composites [16], SnO2/nanotubes [14] and SnO2-RGO [17,18] have been proposed. However, it is still challenging to achieve high-performance LIBs and sodium-ion batteries (SIBs).…”

Ultrafast, Highly Reversible, and Cycle‐Stable Lithium Storage Boosted by Pseudocapacitance in Sn‐Based Alloying Anodes

“…Two primary challenges are faced by Sn‐based anodes: (1) capacity fading induced by volume change and particle aggregation upon lithiation/delithiation; (2) unsatisfactory rate capability of the alloying reaction, which might also bring risks when charging at high rates . In the past decade, substantial efforts have been devoted to tackle the capacity fading problem, including fabricating different kinds of nanostructured Sn‐based materials and preparing composites with carbon matrices or other materials with low expansion capabilities . Chen et al have systematically studied the microstructural evolution of SnO 2 films, clearly indicating the fundamental impact of the physicochemical properties of these functional films .…”