Large-size carbon-coated SnO2 composite as improved anode material for lithium ion batteries

SnO 2 microbelt coating carbon composite was fabricated via electrospinning precursor, thermal treatment, and polymer adhesion process. Primarily, the solvent of electrospinning jet quickly evaporates in a relatively high-temperature environment; intermediate microtubules simultaneously form when the solute containing tin salt and binder converge on the skin of the jet; then, the microtubules collapse into flat microbelt product under the action of atmospheric pressure. Subsequently, SnO 2 microbelts can be obtained by annealing the electrospinning products. Finally, the SnO 2 @C microbelts are synthesized by dopamine polymerization and carbonization process. The SnO 2 @C microbelts present a regular strip with width ~ 1.2 μm and thickness ~ 120 nm. Because of the synergy effect of carbon coating and SnO 2 microbelt design project, the composite shows superior lithium storage of 504 mAh g -1 after 100 cycles at 0.2 A g -1 . The SnO 2 @C microbelts are expected to be competitive alternative anode material of next-generation LIBs. Graphical abstract