Hollow Amorphous MnSnO3 Nanohybrid with Nitrogen-Doped Graphene for High-Performance Lithium Storage

Tin-based metal oxides usually suffer from severe capacity fading resulting from aggregation and considerable volume variation during the charge/discharge process in lithium ion batteries. In this work, a novel nanocomposite (MTO/N-RGO) of hollow amorphous MnSnO3 (MTO) nanoparticles and nitrogen doped reduced graphene oxide (N-RGO) has been designed and synthesized by a two-step method. Firstly, the nitrogen-doped graphene nanocomposite (MTO/N-RGO-P) with MnSn(OH)(6) crystal nano particles was synthesized by a facile solvothermal method. Subsequently, the MTO/N-RGO nano composite was obtained through the post heat treatment of MTO/N-RGO-P. The designed heterostructure and well-combination of the hollow amorphous MTO and N-RGO matrix can accelerate the ionic and electronic transport, and simultaneously accommodate the aggregation and volume variation of MTO nanoparticles during the lithiation-delithiation cycles. The as-prepared hybrid of MTO and N-RGO (MTO/N-RGO) exhibits a high reversible capacity of 707 mAh g(-1) after 110 cycles at 200 mA g(-1), superior rate capability, and long-term cyclic life with high capacity of 610 mAh g(-1) over 1000 cycles at 400 mAg(-1). Superior capacity retention of 97.3% over 1000 cycles was obtained. This work opens new opportunities to fabricate the high-performance electrode materials with heterostructure for lithium storage systems, especially for novel multi-metal oxide based nanocomposites with high cycling stability. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.