Graphene enhanced carbon-coated tin dioxide nanoparticles for lithium-ion secondary batteries

Abstract

A one-step, scalable method has been developed to prepare SnO₂ based carbon materials. Their performances as anodes for lithium-ion batteries can be improved through simultaneous growth of SnO₂ nanoparticles, a carbonaceous polymer coating and “doping” of graphene oxide (GO) by thermal treatment. Detailed characterization of the resulting composite materials using transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction suggests that “doping” a certain amount of GO could clearly change the crystallinity and distribution of SnO₂ nanoparticles in the mixture. The SnO₂ based carbon material exhibits a stable reversible capacity of 720 mA h g⁻¹ after 70 cycles as the anode of lithium-ion batteries, indicating that the composites might have a promising future application in Li-ion batteries.