Stoichiometry Dependence of Physical and Electrochemical Properties of the SnO(x) Film Anodes Deposited by Pulse DC Magnetron Sputtering

A batch of Sn oxides was fabricated by pulse direct current reactive magnetron sputtering (pDC−RMS) using different Ar/O(2) flow ratios at 0.3 Pa; the influence of stoichiometry on the physical and electrochemical properties of the films was evaluated by the characterization of scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray reflection (XRR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and more. The results were as follows. First, the film surface transitioned from a particle morphology (roughness of 50.0 nm) to a smooth state (roughness of 3.7 nm) when Ar/O(2) flow ratios changed from 30/0 to 23/7; second, all SnO(x) films were in an amorphous state, some samples deposited with low O(2) flow ratios (≤2 sccm) still included metallic Sn grains. Therefore, the stoichiometry of SnO(x) calculated by XPS spectra increased linearly from SnO(0.0.08) to SnO(1.71) as the O(2) flow ratios increased, and the oxidation degree was further calibrated by the average valence method and SnO(2) standard material. Finally, the electrochemical performance was confirmed to be improved with the increase in oxidation degree (x) in SnO(x), and the SnO(1.71) film deposited with Ar/O(2) = 23/7 possessed the best cycle performance, reversible capacity of 396.1 mAh/g and a capacity retention ratio of 75.4% after 50 cycles at a constant current density of 44 μA/cm(2).