Controlled growth of SnO2@Fe2O3 double-sided nanocombs as anodes for lithium-ion batteries

A novel heterostructure is developed by grafting 1D SnO2 nanorods onto both sides of pre-grown 2D F(e)2O(3) nanoflakes, forming a comb-like rather than tree-like branched nanostructure. The SnO2 nanorod branches are determined to grow along the [001] direction on the (+/-001) planes of Fe2O3 nanoflakes. The resulting SnO2@Fe2O3 nanocombs show stabilized cycling performance and improved volumetric energy density compared to pristine Fe2O3 nanoflakes presumably due to the integration of SnO2 branches as well as the 3D hierarchical structural features.