Steric-hindrance effect and self-sacrificing template behavior induced PDA@SnO2-QDs/N-doped carbon hollow nanospheres: Enhanced structural stability and reaction kinetics for long-cyclic Li-ion half/full batteries

Huihui Song; Kun Tian; Zhengyuan Fang; Chaohui Guan; Huiying Jiang; Mi Lu; Minshu Zhang; Shuxin Zhuang; Hao Wei; Dong Wei; Xiaodan Li

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2022.11.035

Steric-hindrance effect and self-sacrificing template behavior induced PDA@SnO₂-QDs/N-doped carbon hollow nanospheres: Enhanced structural stability and reaction kinetics for long-cyclic Li-ion half/full batteries

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2023 Feb;631(Pt B):214-223. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2022.11.035. Epub 2022 Nov 13.

Authors

Huihui Song¹, Kun Tian¹, Zhengyuan Fang¹, Chaohui Guan¹, Huiying Jiang¹, Mi Lu¹, Minshu Zhang¹, Shuxin Zhuang¹, Hao Wei¹, Dong Wei², Xiaodan Li³

Affiliations

¹ Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Materials and Applications, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen 361024, China.
² College of Physics and Energy, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350117, China.
³ Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Materials and Applications, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen 361024, China. Electronic address: xiaodan_li@yeah.net.

PMID: 36401929
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2022.11.035

Abstract

Tin-based anode materials with high theoretical specific capacity are subject to huge volume expansion and poor reaction reversibility, leading to degradation of battery performance. Herein, the steric-hindrance effect and self-sacrificing template behavior of polydopamine were firstly developed to induce the formation of hollow nanospheres assembled by ultrafine SnO₂ quantum dots (SnO₂-QDs) and nitrogen-doped carbon (NC), containing residual polydopamine (PDA) cores. The PDA@SnO₂-QDs/NC hollow nanospheres could effectively accommodate the volume expansion and maintain structural stability. More importantly, the PDA core could capture oxygen free radicals produced by the charge/discharge process and be involved in the evolution of the SEI layer, achieving enhanced electrochemical reaction kinetics. The optimized PDA@SnO₂-QDs/NC anode shows a specific capacity of 898 mAh g^-1 after 300 cycles at 0.3 A g^-1, and scarcely capacity attenuation after 1500 cycles at 1 A g^-1. The long-cyclic life is up to 3000 cycles at 3 A g^-1. Even after 200 cycles, the anode in the PDA@SnO₂-QDs/NC||LFP full battery gives a reversible capacity of 489 mAh g^-1 at 0.3 A g^-1, with a capacity retention of 77 %. This work casts new light on tin-based anode materials and interface optimization.

Keywords: Hollow nanospheres; Lithium-ion batteries; Polydopamine; SEI; SnO(2) quantum dots.