Ice-templated preparation and sodium storage of ultrasmall SnO2 nanoparticles embedded in three- dimensional graphene

We report on the ice-templated preparation and sodium storage of ultrasmall SnO2 nanoparticles （3--4 nm） embedded in three-dimensional （3D） graphene （SnO2@3DG）. SnO2@3DG was fabricated by hydrothermal assembly with ice-templated 3DG and a tin source. The structure and morphology analyses showed that 3DG has an interconnected porous architecture with a large pore volume of 0.578 cm^3·g^-1 and a high surface area of 470.5 m^2·g^-1. In comparison, SnO2@3DG exhibited a pore volume of 0.321 cmg.g^-1 and a surface area of 237.7 m^2·g^-1 with a homogeneous distribution of ultrasmall SnO2 nanoparticles in a 3DG network. SnO2@3DG showed a discharge capacity of 1,155 mA-h·g^-1 in the initial cycle, a reversible capacity of 432 mA·h·g^-1 after 200 cycles at 100 mA·g^-1 （with capacity retention of 85.7% relative to that in the second cycle）, and a discharge capacity of 210 mAh·g^-1 at a high rate of 800 mA·g^-1 This is due to the high distribution of SnO2 nanoparticles in the 3DG network and the enhanced facilitation of electron/ion transport in the electrode.