One-Step Fabrication of Carbon Nanotubes-Decorated Sn4P3 as a 3D Porous Intertwined Scaffold for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Through a one-step solvothermal approach, the carbon nanotubes-decorated Sn4P3 nanohybrid with intertwined scaffold structure and enhanced electroconductivity is successfully composed as anode material in lithium-ion batteries, using nontoxic red phosphorus and SnCl2 as starting materials. The special architecture of the nanohybrid exhibits more active sites for lithium ions and buffers the huge volume expansion. When used as anodes in lithium-ion batteries, the material shows superior electrochemical properties, 976.5 m Ahg(-1) after 300cycles under a constant current density of 500 m Ag-1 and 480.0 m Ahg(-1) even at a high rate current of 2000 m Ag-1. This excellent electrochemical behavior can be attributed to the 3D network of CNTs and its critical synergic effect with Sn4P3.