Construction of Carbon Nanofiber-Wrapped SnO Hollow Nanospheres as Flexible Integrated Anode for Half/Full Li-Ion Batteries.

SnO is deemed a potential candidate for high energy density (1494 mAh g) anode materials for Li-ion batteries (LIBs). However, its severe volume variation and low intrinsic electrical conductivity result in poor long-term stability and reversibility, limiting the further development of such materials. Therefore, we propose a novel strategy, that is, to prepare SnO hollow nanospheres (SnO-HNPs) by a template method, and then introduce these SnO-HNPs into one-dimensional (1D) carbon nanofibers (CNFs) uniformly via electrospinning technology. Such a sugar gourd-like construction effectively addresses the limitations of traditional SnO during the charging and discharging processes of LIBs. As a result, the optimized product (denoted SnO-HNP/CNF), a binder-free integrated electrode for half and full LIBs, displays superior electrochemical performance as an anode material, including high reversible capacity (~735.1 mAh g for half LIBs and ~455.3 mAh g at 0.1 A g for full LIBs) and favorable long-term cycling stability. This work confirms that sugar gourd-like SnO-HNP/CNF flexible integrated electrodes prepared with this novel strategy can effectively improve battery performance, providing infinite possibilities for the design and development of flexible wearable battery equipment.