Flower-like C@SnO_X@C hollow nanostructures with enhanced electrochemical properties for lithium storage

Hollow nanostructures have attracted considerable attention owing to their large surface area, tunable cavity, and low density. In this study, a unique flower-like C@SnO_X@C hollow nanostructure (denoted as C@SnO_X@C-1) was synthesized through a novel one-pot approach. The C@SnO_X@C-1 had a hollow carbon core and interlaced petals on the shell. Each petal was a SnO₂ nanosheet coated with an ultrathin carbon layer ~2 nm thick. The generation of the hollow carbon core, the growth of the SnO₂ nanosheets, and the coating of the carbon layers were simultaneously completed via a hydrothermal process using resorcinol-formaldehyde resin-coated SiO₂ nanospheres, tin chloride, urea, and glucose as precursors. The resultant architecture with a large surface area exhibited excellent lithium-storage performance, delivering a high reversible capacity of 756.9 mA·h·g^–1 at a current density of 100 mA·g^–1 after 100 cycles. [Figure not available: see fulltext.].