Liquid-Phase Chemical Melting Deposition for Anchored Nanoparticle-Nanofiber Architectures

We report chemical melting deposition (CMD), a manufacturing strategy designed to overcome the low mass loading and weak interfacial bonding inherent to vapor-based synthesis. Unlike conventional vapor routes, CMD leverages a transient liquid-phase transfer (TLPT) mechanism driven by the differential thermal degradation of carrier fibers to transfer and anchor nanoparticles directly onto target fibers. This process thermodynamically drives the wetting and interfacial fusion of nanoparticles, establishing a liquid-phase contact pathway that enables markedly higher active material loading. To validate the structural resilience of this fused architecture against extreme volumetric stress, we utilized lead oxide (PbO) as a model system, which typically suffers from catastrophic volume expansion (∼233%) in lithium-ion batteries. Mechanistic studies reveal robust and tunable particle-fiber attachment governed by CMD parameters, enabling optimized structural stability and electrochemical performance. The resulting PbO-carbon nanofiber (CNF) composite anode features a strain-accommodating hierarchical architecture via a self-buffering matrix, delivering a specific capacity of 466.8 mAh·g^-1 at 200 mA·g^-1 (∼1.2C) over 250 cycles, nearly doubling that of bare CNFs (235.3 mAh·g^-1). These findings establish CMD as a highly versatile, liquid-phase manufacturing platform with implications extending far beyond conventional energy storage systems. This broadly applicable route provides a versatile methodology for designing high-loading, structurally integrated nanocomposites for diverse mechanically demanding applications, including advanced catalysis, sensors, and energy storage.