Novel Strategy of Constructing Hollow Ga₂O₃@N-CQDs as a Self-Healing Anode Material for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Abstract

Self-healing materials arouse much attention because of their recoverable morphologies during (dis)charge. Herein, we report an effective and practical synthesis strategy that can adequately utilize the self-healing feature to achieve advanced integrative performance. The hollow Ga2O3@nitrogen-doped carbon quantum dot (H-Ga2O3@N-CQD) nanospheres are synthesized via a facile approach as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). In this anode, the self-healing capability is derived from the Ga generated in the conversion reaction. On account of the feasible structure design and the binding N-CQD coating, the material structure can be well preserved during (dis)charging. As a result, the anode material delivers an initial discharge capacity of 1348.5 mAh g–1 at 0.1 A g–1 and an invertible capacity of 700.5 mAh g–1 under 0.5 A g–1 after 500 cycles. Endowed by the unique structural design, the H-Ga2O3@N-CQDs can deliver high-current-density circulation performance and long-term cycle stability, which has prospects for large-scale applications in high-energy-density LIBs. Meanwhile, the rational framework design offers new insights into the structure-building construction of self-healing materials.