Facile synthesis of porous MgO-CaO-SnOx nanocubes implanted firmly on in-situ formed carbon paper and their lithium storage properties

Abstract: Porous MgO-CaO-SnOx nanocubes (crystalline SnOx and amorphous MgO/CaO) were synthesized to implant firmly and uniformly onto in-situ formed carbon paper by a facile route including template-free growth process and calcining treatment. Low-cost filter paper was used to realize the part implantation of cubes as well as a source of carbon paper. The mechanistic analysis demonstrates that Mg2+/Ca2+ ions and ammonium hydroxide played important roles in the formation of cubic phase precursor. This MgO-CaO-SnOx-nanocubes/carbon paper could be directly applied as binder-free film electrode for lithium-ion batteries eliminating conventional electrode fabrication processes, and average capacity contribution of ~719 mA h g？1 for MgO-CaO-SnOx nanocubes through 40 cycles was achieved. The facile synthesis strategy combines the material synthesis, dispersion and electrode fabrication together, which further opens new avenue for the application of nano-architectures in energy storage.