A facile synthesis of SO42 −/SnO2 solid superacid nanoparticles as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries

This paper presents a study of SnO2 and SO42 −/SnO2 solid superacid nanoparticles, synthesized by a facile sol-gel route, as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). A possible reversible reaction mechanism is proposed for the SO42 −/SnO2 solid superacid nanoparticles used as an anode material. The SO42 −/SnO2 exhibits a reversible lithium storage capacity of 925 mAh g− 1 at a low charge–discharge rate of 0.2 C (156 mA g− 1). Furthermore, it exhibits a stable cycling performance over 50 cycles at the rate of 0.2 C, maintaining the specific capacity of 310 mAh g− 1, whereas SO42 −-free SnO2 only delivers a capacity retention of 126 mAh g− 1.