Synthesis of uniform polycrystalline tin dioxide nanofibers and electrochemical application in lithium-ion batteries

Under optimized synthesis conditions, very large area uniform SnO2 nanofibers consisting of orderly bonded nanoparticles have been obtained for the first time by thermal pyrolysis and oxidization of electrospun tin(II)2-ethylhexanoate/polyacrylonitrile (PAN) polymer nanofibers in air. The structure and morphology were elaborated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The SnO2 nanofibers delivered a reversible capacity of 446 mAh g−1 after 50 cycles at the 100 mA g−1 rate and excellent rate capability of 477.7 mAh g−1 at 10.0 C. Owing to the improved electrochemical performance, this electrospun SnO2 nanofiber could be one of the most promising candidate anode materials for the lithium-ion battery.