Facile and High-Efficiency Chemical Presodiation Strategy on the SnS/rGO Composite Anode for Stable Sodium-Ion Batteries.

SnS/reduced graphite oxide (rGO) composite materials show great potential as high-performance anode candidates in sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) owing to their high specific capacities and power densities. However, the repeated formation/decomposition of the solid electrolyte interface (SEI) layer around composite anodes usually consumes additional sodium cations, resulting in poor Coulombic efficiency and decreasing specific capacity upon cycling. Therefore, in order to compensate for the large irreversible sodium loss of the SnS/rGO anode, this study has proposed a facile strategy by implementing organic solutions of sodium-biphenyl/tetrahydrofuran (Na-Bp/THF) and sodium-naphthylamine/dimethoxyethane (Na-Naph/DME) as chemical presodiation reagents. Particularly, the storage stability of Na-Bp/THF and Na-Naph/DME in ambient air accompanied by their presodiation behavior on the SnS/rGO anode has been investigated, and both reagents exhibited desirable ambient air-tolerant storage stability with favorable sodium supplement effects even after 20 days of storage. More importantly, the initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE) of SnS/rGO electrodes could be controllably increased by immersing in a presodiation reagent for different durations. Consequently, with a facile chemical presodiation strategy of immersion in Na-Bp/THF solution for only 3 min in ambient air, the presodiated SnS/rGO anode has exhibited an outstanding electrochemical performance with a high ICE of 95.6% as well as an ultrahigh specific capacity of 879.2 mAh g after 300 cycles (83.5% of its initial capacity), highly superior to the pristine SnS/rGO anode. This efficient and scalable presodiation strategy provides a new avenue for the prevailing application of other anode candidates in high-energy SIBs.