Synthesis of Ni@NiSn Composite with High Lithium-Ion Diffusion Coefficient for Fast-Charging Lithium-Ion Batteries

To solve the problems of fast-charging of lithium-ion batteries in essence, development of new electrode materials with higher lithium-ion diffusion coefficients is the key. In this work, a novel flower-like Ni@SnNi structure is synthesized via a two-step process design, which consists of the fabrication of Ni cores by spray pyrolysis followed by the formation of SnNi shells via a simple oxidation-reduction reaction. The obtained Ni@SnNi composite exhibits an initial capacity of ≈693 mA h g^-1 and a reversible capacity of ≈570 mA h g^-1 after 300 charge/discharge cycles at 0.5 C, and maintains 450 mA h g^-1 even at a high rate of 3 C. Further, it is proved that a Ni@SnNi composite possesses high lithium-ion diffusion coefficient (≈10^-8), which is much higher than those (≈10^-10) reported previously, which can be mainly attributed to the unique flower-like Ni@SnNi structure. In addition, the full cell performance (Ni@SnNi-9h/graphite vs LiCoO₂) with a capacity ratio of 1.13 (anode/cathode) is also tested. It is found that even at 2 C rate charging/discharging, the capacity retention at 100 cycles is still close to 89%. It means that Ni@SnNi-9h is a promising anode additive for lithium-ion batteries with high energy density and power density.