Structural and electrochemical properties of a porous nanostructured SnO2 film electrode for lithium-ion batteries

A B2O3-doped SnO2 thin film was prepared by a novel experimental procedure combining the electrodeposition and the hydrothermal treatment, and its structure and electrochemical properties were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy and galvanostatic charge–discharge tests. It was found that the as-prepared modified SnO2 film shows a porous network structure with large specific surface area and high crystallinity. The results of electrochemical tests showed that the modified SnO2 electrode presents the largest reversible capacity of 676 mAh g−1 at the fourth cycle, close to the theoretical capacity of SnO2 (790 mAh g−1); and it still delivers a reversible Li storage capacity of 524 mAh g−1 after 50 cycles. The reasons that the modified SnO2 film electrode shows excellent electrochemical properties were also discussed.