Continuous Carbon Hollow Shell with Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Embedded as an Anode Material with Excellent Lithium Storage Capability

Abstract

Continuous carbon hollow shells with embedded ZnO nanoparticles were synthesized from colloidal polystyrene/ZnO as templates and glucose oligomer as the carbon source followed by calcination. The resulting uniform ZnO/C hollow spheres display a relatively high reversible capacity of 994 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles at 0.1 A g−1 and 812 mAh g−1 after 200 cycles at 1 A g−1, which is superior to most reported ZnO‐based anode materials. The excellent electrochemical performance of the ZnO/C hollow spheres may arise from the following aspects: the shortened pathway of Li ions and electrolyte attributed to the unique hollow shell structures, improved electronic conductivity, firm encapsulation of ZnO nanoparticles, and high specific surface area of the products, which together facilitate the ZnO nanoparticles to undergo the alloying reaction completely.

Ultrasmall ZnO Nanocrystals Confined in Honeycombed N‐Doped Carbon for High‐Performance and Stable Lithium/Sodium Ion Batteries

“…[3] To tackle the abovementioned shortcomings, many efforts have been made, including minimizing particle size to the nanoscale, preparing different shapes of nano-sized ZnO, coating with carbonaceous, etc. [2,[4][5][6][7][8] At present, the effective and popular ways to improve the battery performances of LIBs mainly include nano-confinement and carbon-encapsulation of ZnO. [9,10] The introduction of carbon into the ZnO presents a positive influence on improving the storage performances of Li þ in LIBs, which could improve the conductivity and alleviate the particle aggregation together with the volume expansion of ZnO during charge/discharge.…”

Diethylzinc-Assisted Atomic Surface Reduction to Stabilize Li and Mn-Rich NCM

“…The proposed surface reaction results in a conformal, 2–3 nm thin reduced surface of TM oxides enriched with complex ZnO x R y species directly on LMR-NCM without exposing it to the ambient atmosphere, solvents, high temperature, or any alternating vapor pulses. Diethylzinc is specifically chosen to improve the charge-transfer kinetics by taking advantage not only of the high charge mobility − associated with ZnO x but also of its ability to scavenge HF, as reported previously. − …”

Dual-Porosity Hollow Carbon Spheres with Tunable Through-Holes for Multi-Guest Delivery

“…Mesoporous nanoparticles have extensive applications in catalysis, 1,2 biomedicine, 3−5 absorption, 6,7 sensing, and energy storage 8,9 due to their controllable structures, large specific surface area, large pore volume, and regular pore sizes. 5,10,11 Nevertheless, the pore sizes of most mesoporous nanoparticles are usually limited to only 2−5 nm 4 , which is unsuitable for the co-loading of multiple guestsespecially macromolecules.…”

“…Mesoporous nanoparticles have extensive applications in catalysis, , biomedicine, − absorption, , sensing, and energy storage , due to their controllable structures, large specific surface area, large pore volume, and regular pore sizes. ,, Nevertheless, the pore sizes of most mesoporous nanoparticles are usually limited to only 2–5 nm 4 , which is unsuitable for the co-loading of multiple guestsespecially macromolecules. Hierarchically structured mesoporous nanoparticles (HSMNs) that have mesopores on different length scales can facilitate the co-loading and co-delivery of more than one guest of different sizes, thus solving this problem. − In particular, the simultaneous delivery of bio-macromolecules and small drug molecules, such as the co-loading of drugs and siRNA (or DNA), can be realized using HSMNs as nanocarrier platforms.…”