Facile preparation of SnC2O4 nanowires for anode materials of a Li ion battery

•Fabrication of one-dimensional Sn oxalate nanostructures.•Chemical anodization followed by annealing process.•Possible faster charge and discharge rates in Li batteries.

A simple method of creating densely-packed nanostructures of functional metal oxides is attractive, but it has always been a challenge. Here, we synthesize well-distributed nanostructures of Sn complexes (SnC2O4 and SnO2) via a simple chemical anodization technique followed by annealing. Chemical anodization of Sn surface in oxalic acid, using various organic solvents, provides one-dimensional nanostructures of SnC2O4. Length and packing density were precisely controlled by several parameters: solubility of oxalic acid, dielectric constant of organic solvents, and the ion transfer of proton and oxalate anion. Further thermal decomposition converts the SnC2O4 nanowires into SnO2 nanowires, maintaining the nanostructure form in the process. In addition, we expect that the mixture of SnC2O4 and SnO2 nanowires synthesized by this approach might be potential alternative anode materials for prompt charging and discharging Li ion batteries.