A sandwich nanocomposite composed of commercially available SnO and reduced graphene oxide as advanced anode materials for sodium-ion full batteries

• Published in: Inorganic chemistry frontiers Vol. 8; no. 2; pp. 396 - 44
• Main Authors: Yang, Xu, Liang, Hao-Jie, Zhao, Xin-Xin, Yu, Hai-Yue, Wang, Mei-Yi, Nie, Xue-Jiao, Wu, Xing-Long
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Royal Society of Chemistry 26.01.2021
• Subjects: Anodes; Electrochemical analysis; Electrode materials; Energy storage; Flux density; Graphene; Inorganic chemistry; Nanocomposites; Nanoparticles; Rechargeable batteries; Sandwich structures; Sodium-ion batteries
• ISSN: 2052-1553; 2052-1545; 2052-1553
• DOI: 10.1039/d0qi01033b

In the past years, sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have attracted much attention due to their potential application in large-scale energy storage. However, for now, it is difficult for anode materials to achieve further practical application. In this work, we designed a sandwich structure in which SnO nanoparticles were entrapped between the layers of reduced graphene oxide (SnO/rGO) via freeze drying. The unique structure can not only offer a 3D carbon network but also relieve volume expansion during discharge/charge processes. When used as an anode material for SIBs, the material exhibits excellent rate capability and stable cycling performance. It can be found that a reversible capacity of 132.3 mA h g −1 can be obtained even at a current density of 5 A g −1 . In addition, SnO/rGO shows a charge capacity of 109.5 mA h g −1 with a capacity retention of 70.62% after 1200 cycles at 4 A g −1 . When assembled with Na 3 V 2 (PO 4 ) 2 O 2 F (NVPOF) as the cathode, the sodium-ion full cells also display high rate performance, suggesting a reversible capacity of 65.7 mA h g −1 at 20C and an energy density of 138.95 W h kg −1 at −0.1C. The unique structure provides a simple and facile method to achieve high electrochemical performance which is beneficial for developing commercial anode materials for SIBs. A sandwich structure with SnO and reduced graphene oxide (SnO/rGO) is designed via freeze drying. It delivers a specific capacity of 109.5 mA h g −1 with a retention of 70.62% after 1200 cycles at 4 A g −1 , revealing its stable cycling performance.