Tin phosphide (Sn4P3) combining with good conductivity of tin (Sn) and high capacity of phosphorous (P) has been reported to be the potential anode material of sodium ion battery (SIB). However, the preparation of Sn4P3 is limited to ball-milling and composited with carbon materials. The novel and detailed structure of Sn4P3 itself is little disclosed so far. In this work, we report the multi-shell Sn4P3 nano-structure by a facile and general low-temperature solvothemal method for the first time. The multi-shell structure with larger specific surface area and interlayer space endow this new anode material with short cut pathway for sodium ion diffusion and buffer space for volume expansion during sodiation, thus avoiding the electrode pulverization and improving the cycling performance of SIB. The as-prepared multi-shell Sn4P3 delivers an excellent specific capacity of 770 mAh/g with capacity retention of 96% after 50 cycles at the current densities of 50 mA/g, demonstrating the superiority of structure optimization in sodium ion battery anode preparation.

中文翻译：

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多壳磷化锡纳米球作为钠离子电池的高性能负极材料

据报道，磷化锡（Sn4P3）与良好的锡（Sn）导电性和高容量的磷（P）相结合是钠离子电池（SIB）的潜在阳极材料。但是，Sn4P3的制备仅限于球磨和与碳材料复合。到目前为止，Sn4P3本身的新颖而详细的结构很少公开。在这项工作中，我们首次通过一种简便且通用的低温溶剂化方法报告了多壳Sn4P3纳米结构。这种具有较大比表面积和层间空间的多壳结构使这种新型阳极材料具有短的钠离子扩散途径，并具有在固态化过程中体积膨胀的缓冲空间，从而避免了电极粉碎，提高了SIB的循环性能。