| Rational design and synthesis of nanostructured materials have been attracting significant research interest in developing new rechargeable lithium ion batteries (LIBs) with higher energy capacity and longer cycle life in recent years. One-dimensional (ID) nanostructures, such as nanotubes and nanowires, represent several structural advantages for LIBs, including good electrical contact and efficient charge conduction, thin walls for short lithium insertion distance, and large surface curvature for accommodating strain generated during Li+insertion/extraction.We report the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) growth of several novel ID zinc antimonide (Zn4Sb3) structures, including nanotubes, nanowires and nanorods, directly on a Cu foil. ZnCl2and SbCl3were used as solid precursors, and argon and hydrogen were used as carrier gas and reducing agent. Parameters including temperature, gas flow rate, substrate, catalyst and pressure were controlled during the synthesis and the mechanism of forming these1D nanostructures was also discussed. The key to successful synthesis of these1D nanostructures is the pre-deposition of small amount of ZnCl2nanoparticle seeds on the growth substrate as catalysts. A variety of1D morphologies can be well tuned by the reaction pressure in the range of75-800Pa.To study the capabilities of these Zn4Sb3nanostructures as potential LIB anode materials, the as-deposited Zn4Sb3on copper foils were directly transferred into a glove box for battery assembly, without the need of coating, baking steps, or addition of any binders and conductive additives. Our synthesized1D Zn4Sb3nanostructures showed excellent battery performance on both capacity and cycling stability. The best battery performance had been achieved by Zn4Sb3nanotubes. A reversible capacity of450mAh/g was recorded for the nanotube anode after100charge/discharge cycles under a current density of100mA/g, with capacity retention of nearly100%compared to the10th cycle. |
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