Spatially confined construction of heterostructured SnSe/SnTe nanodots in porous carbon fibers with high-level N-doping for superior sodium storage

Sodium ion batteries (SIBs) have been considered as a promising candidate to supersede lithium ion batteries, however, the lack of suitable electrode materials for efficient Na-storage still hinders its practical use. Hence, this work reports a general and effective way to in-situ construction of heterostructured SnSe/SnTe nanodots encapsulated in nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon matrix (SnSe/SnTe@N-CNFs). In such unique architecture, the porous N-CNFs matrix cannot only provide high electronic/ion conductivity but also alleviate the volume change of SnSe and SnTe, leading to rapid kinetics and robust structure, whereas the ultrasmall SnSe/SnTe heterostructure with built-in interfacial driving force can promote charge transfer kinetics. Meanwhile, the abundant defective sites induced from high-level N-doping is beneficial to Na+ storage. Besides, the formed Sn-C,

Automated summary

This work presents a general and effective method for efficient sodium ion storage by constructing SnSe/SnTe nanodots in a nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon matrix. The unique architecture provides high electronic/ion conductivity and reduces the volume change of the electrode materials, resulting in rapid kinetics and a robust structure. Additionally, the SnSe/SnTe heterostructure promotes charge transfer kinetics, while the high-level nitrogen doping induces abundant defective sites for sodium ion storage.