Porous SnO2 hollow microspheres as anodes for high-performance lithium ion battery

SnO2 has been studied as a promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries due to its high theoretical capacity. However, the large volume change (>300%) and severe structural collapse during cycles are serious. To solve these issues, the porous SnO2 dumbbell-shaped hollow microspheres (DSHSs) were synthesized by a sacrificial template method. The porous SnO2 DSHSs deliver a capacity of 695 mAh g−1 when the current density returns from 1600 to 100 mA g−1. After being tested at larger current density of 1.0 A g−1 for 100 cycles, the capacity retain 602 mAh g−1. The superior performance of porous SnO2 DSHSs can be attributed to the porous and hollow microstructure, which provides more lithium storage sites; shorter Li-ion diffusion length and sufficient void space.