MBE growth and structural and electrochemical characterization of tin oxide and indium tin oxide nanoparticles grown on silicon for Li-ion battery anodes

Abstract

Tin oxide (SnO2) is considered a very promising material as a high capacity Li-ion battery anode. Typically, the electrochemical performance of tin oxide based anodes is dependent on various factors such as their size and composition. Here, we demonstrate how defined dispersion of nanostructures can improve the understanding of the relationship between the electrode performance and its architecture. Two different types of well-defined hierarchical Sn@SnO2 core-shell nanoparticle dispersions were prepared by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on silicon, composed of either amorphous or polycrystalline SnO2 shells. Sn doped In2O3 (ITO) NP dispersions are also demonstrated from MBE nanoparticle growth. Preparation of SnO2 and related materials by highly defined MBE growth as a model system allows a detailed examination of the influence of material dispersion or nanoarchitecture on the performance of active electrode materials.