A New Tin Graphite Intercalation Compound for Lithium Ion Batteries1

A new composite material was fabricated by intercalating tin nanoparticles into graphite. The tin graphite intercalation compound (Sn-GIC) was prepared by the interactions of tin tetrachloride with KC8(K-GIC) in tetrahydrofuran (THF). As the anode of lithium ion batteries, Sn-GIC presents a steady reversible capacity(363 mA · h/g) and a good cycling performance in comparison with Sn and SnO2, it suggests that the association of tin with graphite not only improves the reversible capacities, but also prevents the volume changes resulted from lithium insertion and extraction with tin during a charge-discharge process.