Wire Explosion Synthesis of a Sn/C Nanocomposite as an Anode Material for Li Secondary Batteries

As a top-down approach for nanomaterial synthesis, a "wire explosion in liquid media" process was applied to the preparation of a Sn/C nanocomposite used as an alternative anode material for lithium secondary batteries. Using a highly-dispersed Sn nanoparticle suspension produced by electrical explosion of Sn wires in ethanol followed by gravimetric sedimentation for size separation, addition of a carbon precursor and pyrolysis, we prepared nano-sized Sn particles embedded in a carbon matrix. The physical properties of the nano-sized Sn and its carbon composite were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. The electrochemical property was analyzed by cycled charge/discharge tests.?The resulting Li storage performance of the Sn/C nanocomposite showed an initial discharge capacity of over 400 mAhg^(-1) and improved capacity retention of 340 mAhg^(-10 after 40 cycles. The simplicity and scalability of nanocomposite synthesis provided by the "wiire explosion in a liquid medium" process make this method a promising tool not only for a new nanomaterial investigation but also for a commercial production of nanomaterials. KCI Citation Count: 8