Interfacial Engineering of Self-Supported SnO <sub>2</sub> Nanorod Arrays as Anode for Flexible Lithium-Ion Batteries
Xiaoling Teng, Fengling Zhang, Qiang Li, Xia Wang, Wanneng Ye, Hongsen Li, Jie Xu, Derang Cao, Shandong Li, Han Hu
Abstract
Self-supported electrodes have become increasingly important for the development of flexible electronic devices. Herein, SnO 2 nanorod arrays are firmly glued onto amorphous SnO 2 coated Cu foils, to form robust self-supported anodes for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Without the use of binders and conducting additives, the as-prepared anodes exhibit outstanding performance in terms of excellent cycling stability and high rate capability and are successfully assembled into flexible cells. The excellent performance of the as-prepared anodes can be attributed to the interfacial engineering: the amorphous SnO 2 interlayer not only glues SnO 2 nanorods and the conductive substrate together, but also buffers the stress induced by volume expansion of the SnO 2 nanorods and facilitates efficient electron transport during the cycling. The outstanding electrochemical performance suggests that the proposed interfacial engineering with the amorphous SnO 2 is a simple and promising strategy for constructing high-performance LIBs especially for the emerging flexible batteries.