A High-Rate, High-Capacity, Nanostructured Tin Oxide Electrode

Recently, battery anodes derived from oxides of tin have been of considerable interest because they can, in principle, store more than twice as much as graphite. However, large volume changes occur when is inserted and removed from these materials, and this causes internal damage to the electrode resulting in loss of capacity and rechargeability. We describe here a nanostructured electrode that has extraordinary rate capabilities, can deliver very high capacities , and still retain the ability to be discharged and recharged for as many as 800 cycles. These electrodes, prepared via the template method, consist of monodisperse nanofibers protruding from a current‐collector surface like the bristles of a brush. The dramatically improved rate and cycling performance are related to the small size of the nanofibers that make up the electrode and the small domain size of the grains within the nanofibers. ©2000 The Electrochemical Society