Synthetically Controlled, Carbon-Coated Co2SnO4/SnO2 Composite Anode for Lithium-ion Batteries

The inherent drawbacks of Co 2 SnO 4 in demonstrating the closer-to-theoretical capacity value behavior and the inadmissible volume-expansion-related capacity fade behavior have been surpassed by choosing a tailor-made material composition of Co 2 SnO 4 /SnO 2 , prepared at two different temperatures such as 400°C and 600°C to obtain residual carbon-containing and carbon-free compositions, respectively. Among the products, carbon-coated Co 2 SnO 4 /SnO 2 composite exhibits better electrochemical performance compared with that of the carbon-free product mainly because of the beneficial effect of carbon in accommodating the volume-expansion-related issues arising from the alloying/de-alloying mechanism. A combination of conversion reaction and alloying/de-alloying mechanism is found to play a vital role in exhibiting closer-to-theoretical capacity values. In other words, an appreciable specific capacity value of 834 mAh g −1 has been exhibited by Co 2 SnO 4 /SnO 2 anode containing carbon coating, thus, demonstrating the possibility to improve the electrochemical performance of the title anode through carbon coating, which is realized as a result of the addition of carefully manipulated synthesis conditions.