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Synergistic Dual-Coating Layers with Uniformly Anchored Zn-Containing Nanoparticles Enabling Structural Robustness and High Conductivity for High-Performance SiO Anodes

ACS Applied Nano Materials advanceAccess

12 September 2026 at 00:00

Abstract

Microsized silicon monoxide (SiO) anodes have attracted considerable attention owing to their high theoretical specific capacity, but their low electronic conductivity and severe volume expansion during cycling hinder practical application. Herein, a synergistic dual-coating strategy is developed to construct a trilayer SiO@SiO_x/C@ZC composite anode composed of a SiO core, a homogeneous SiO_x/C composite interlayer, and a ZIF-8-derived carbon outer shell containing uniformly anchored Zn-containing inorganic nanoparticles. γ-Mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTMS) was first coated onto SiO, where thiol groups anchored ZIF-8 precursors through coordination with Zn²⁺. After high-temperature calcination, the MPTMS-derived homogeneous SiO_x/C interlayer buffered volume expansion and improved structural stability, while the ZIF-8-derived carbon shell enhanced electronic conductivity and constructed a continuous carbon network. The Zn-containing inorganic nanoparticles embedded within the carbon shell further facilitated interfacial Li⁺ transport. SiO@SiO_x/C@ZC retained 885.72 mAh g⁻¹ after 1000 cycles at 1 A g⁻¹ with 84.2% capacity retention and delivered 553 mAh g⁻¹ at 10 A g⁻¹. Chemical prelithiation was further employed to compensate for the initial irreversible lithium loss and improve lithium utilization, enabling the SiO@SiO_x/C@ZC//NCM811 full cell to maintain 150 mAh g⁻¹ after 200 cycles at 1 C and to retain 70.86% of its capacity at 6 C during rate testing. This work provides an efficient strategy for practical microsized SiO anodes.

Magnetic Functionalization of High- Q Mechanical Resonators with Co 3 Fe Nanopillars for Spin-Mechanical Coupling

ACS Applied Nano Materials advanceAccess

11 September 2026 at 03:00

Abstract

Coupling electronic spin degrees of freedom to the motion of micromechanical resonators could enable quantum-enhanced force sensing, the exploration of macroscopic non-Gaussian states, and information transduction for hybrid quantum systems. A promising route exploits Zeeman shifts of spin states induced by the displacement of resonators functionalized with magnetic nanostructures. However, established nanomagnet fabrication methods, such as thin-film patterning, are incompatible with the inherently fragile nature of microresonators. Here, we report the successful growth of soft-ferromagnetic Co₃Fe pillars, with a 500 nm diameter and 2000 nm height, on 50 nm thick SiN trampoline membranes by focused electron beam induced deposition (FEBID). We show that this functionalization preserves mechanical quality factors up to 7 × 10⁶, confirming that the FEBID process is noninvasive to the resonator. Using nitrogen-vacancy scanning magnetometry, we probe the magnetic properties of a pillar in external fields up to 15 mT and observe a clear opening of its hysteresis loop, indicative of ferromagnetic behavior with a small but finite coercivity. At an NV-Co₃Fe pillar apex distance of ∼300 nm we directly measure magnetic field gradients of 3 × 10⁴ T m^–1.