Porous SnO(2) nanostructure with a high specific surface area for improved electrochemical performance

Tin oxide (SnO(2)) has been attractive as an alternative to carbon-based anode materials because of its fairly high theoretical capacity during cycling. However, SnO(2) has critical drawbacks, such as poor cycle stability caused by a large volumetric variation during the alloying/de-alloying reaction and low capacity at a high current density due to its low electrical conductivity. In this study, we synthesized a porous SnO(2) nanostructure (n-SnO(2)) that has a high specific surface area as an anode active material using the Adams fusion method. From the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis and transmission electron microscopy, the as-prepared SnO(2) sample was found to have a mesoporous structure with a fairly high surface area of 122 m(2) g(−1) consisting of highly-crystalline nanoparticles with an average particle size of 5.5 nm. Compared to a commercial SnO(2), n-SnO(2) showed significantly improved electrochemical performance because of its increased specific surface area and short Li(+) ion pathway. Furthermore, during 50 cycles at a high current density of 800 mA g(−1), n-SnO(2) exhibited a high initial capacity of 1024 mA h g(−1) and enhanced retention of 53.6% compared to c-SnO(2) (496 mA h g(−1) and 23.5%).