Metal–organic framework-derived carbon decorated Ni–Sn nanostructures for ultrastable metal-ion batteries

Sn-based anode materials have been considered with great potential for advanced metal-ion batteries contributed to their fascinating cost efficiency and relatively high theoretical capacity. Nevertheless, their severe volume expansion hinders the commercial applications. Herein, a facile strategy has been proposed to design carbon nanotube-decorated Ni–Sn nanostructures (Ni–Sn@CNT) via catalytic conversion from the Ni-MOF@SnO₂ precursor. In such unique architecture, the metallic Ni acts as a buffer matrix (electrochemically inactive phase) to effectively suppress the unfavorable volume variation of Sn during the long-term battery operation and the conductive CNT network offers sufficient electron and ion transport pathway. Benefitting from these features, the as-prepared Ni–Sn@CNT nanostructures harvest a decent capacity of 408.7 mAh g⁻¹ and 91 mAh g⁻¹ for storing Li⁺ and Na⁺ after 500 cycles, respectively.