In situ growth of hierarchical SnO₂ nanosheet arrays on 3D macroporous substrates as high-performance electrodes

Finding out how to overcome the self-aggregation of nanostructured electrode materials is a very important issue in lithium-ion battery technology. Herein, by an in situ construction strategy, hierarchical SnO2 nanosheet architectures have been fabricated on a three-dimensional macroporous substrate, and thus the aggregation of the SnO2 nanosheets was effectively prevented. The as-prepared hierarchical SnO2 nanoarchitectures on the nickel foam can be directly used as an integrated anode for lithium-ion batteries without the addition of other ancillary materials such as carbon black or binder. In view of their apparent advantages, such as high electroactive surface area, ultrathin sheet, robust mechanical strength, shorter ion and electron transport path, and the specific macroporous structure, the hierarchical SnO2 nanosheets exhibit excellent lithium-storage performance. Our present growth approach offers a new technique for the design and synthesis of metal oxide hierarchical nanoarrays that are promising for electrochemical energy-storage electrodes without carbon black and binder.