Ultrathin SnO nanosheets as anode materials for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries

• Ultrathin SnO nanosheets with highly pure crystal phase were successfully prepared via a simple and effective hydrothermal process.
• The obtained SnO nanosheets exhibited excellent discharge capacity.
• A possible discharge and charge mechanism for the SnO nanosheets was also discussed.

SnO ultrathin nanosheets with a highly pure crystal phase were successfully prepared via a simple and effective hydrothermal process, using tin dichloride dihydrate (SnCl2·2H2O) as a stannous source in the presence of hexamethylenetetramine (HMT). SEM and TEM images showed that the obtained SnO products are uniform and ultrathin nanosheets. The electrochemical properties results indicated that the obtained SnO nanosheets exhibited excellent discharge capacity, the reversible capacity was 559 mAh g−1 after 20 cycles, and the SnO nanosheets retain high capacity even at high discharge current densities. The enhanced performance was attributed to the unique structure of ultrathin SnO nanosheets and highly pure crystal phase.