Carbon–tin oxides@ titanium dioxide core-shell nanospheres for lithium ion battery anode electrodes with high rate cyclability

•A peculiar core-shell structure of C–SnOx@TiO2 was prepared by a facile strategy.•This structure exhibits superior buffer ability and electrochemical properties.•It delivered a high reversible capacity of 377 mAh g−1 even after 1000 cycles.

A peculiar core-shell structure of carbon-tin oxides@ titanium dioxide composite has been prepared by a facile strategy. Additionally, this composite owns a mesoporous structure, which not only provides a high electrode–electrolyte contact area but also accelerates the diffusion of both electrons and lithium ions, eventually making contributions to the capacity. When employed as an anode material for lithium ion batteries, this unique core-shell composite exhibits good reversible capacity, rate capability, and coulombic efficiency.