Abstract
Charge-discharge characteristics of lithium ion secondary batteries have been investigated by employing as-prepared and thermally treated mesoporous SnO2 under different atmospheres as anode materials. The cell with as-prepared mesoporous SnO2 having a high specific surface area of 236 m2 g-1 showed a superior discharge capacity of ca. 1840 mAh g-1 at the first cycle, in comparison to that of the cell with conventional graphite (ca. 390 mA g-1), but its cycle performance needed to be modified, i.e. the capacity decreased to 314 mAh g-1 after 10 cycles. The cycle performance could be improved (423 mAh g-1 after 10 cycles) by employing partially reduced mesoporous SnO2 prepared by the treatment in H2 atmosphere at 300oC for 5 h, while such treatment resulted in a decrease in specific surface area of the anode material to ca. 48.5 m2 g-1.
