Controllable fabrication of C/Sn and C/SnO/Sn composites as anode materials for high-performance lithium-ion batteries

The C/Sn and C/SnO/Sn nanocomposites with high performance are of great interest as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). In this paper, we employ a continuous-controllable method to fabricate the C/Sn and C/SnO/Sn composites in which nanometer-sized Sn(SnO) particles are uniformly dispersed and encapsulated into the porous carbon matrix. When evaluated as anode materials for LIBs, the C/Sn10 composite displays a reversible capacity of 501 mAh g−1 at a current density of 100 mA g−1 after 500 cycles. A high capacity of 425 mAh g−1 can be also obtained even at a current density of 1000 mA g−1. Further, the C/SnO/Sn-6h composite delivers a high reversible capacity of 504 mAh g−1 at a current density of 1000 mA g−1 after 1000 cycles and an excellent rate capacity of 300 mAh g−1 even at a very high current density of 10 A g−1. These outstanding performances can be due to the well dispersion of nanometer-sized Sn(SnO) particles in the porous carbon matrix, which can accommodate the large volume change and prevent Sn(SnO) nanoparticles from aggregating.