L-Leucine Templated Biomimetic Assembly of SnO(2) Nanoparticles and Their Lithium Storage Properties

SnO(2) nanoparticles have been synthesized by a novel route of a sol-gel method assisted with biomimetic assembly using L-leucine as a biotemplate. The microstructure of as-prepared SnO(2) nanoparticles was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), and Brunner−Emmet−Teller (BET) measurements. The results demonstrated that the growth of SnO(2) could be regulated by L-leucine at a high calcination temperature. The electrochemical performance of SnO(2) was also measured as anodes for lithium-ion battery. It is a guidance for the growth regulation of SnO(2) at high temperature to obtain SnO(2)/C with nanosized SnO(2) coated by a graphitic carbon.