One Step Synthesis of Uniform SnO₂ Electrode by UV Curing Technology toward Enhanced Lithium-Ion Storage

A uniform anode material composed of ultrasmall tin oxide (SnO₂) nanoparticles with an excellent lithium-ion (Li-ion) storage performance is obtained for the first time through one step UV curing technology. The diameter of ∼3 nm-sized SnO₂ particles is uniformly dispersed in the styrylpyridinium (SbQ) polymer because of its photo-cross-linking property. The in situ cross-linking of SbQ polymer not only assist synthesis of uniform ultrasmall SnO₂, but act as a strong adhesion binder on SnO₂ nanoparticles, thereby effectively accommodating the volume expansion of SnO₂ anodes during cycling process. The uniform electrode exhibits substantially higher specific capacity and longer cycling stability compared with the SnO₂ nanoparticles electrodes treated by traditional PVDF-mixing method. A stable specific capacity of 572.5 mA h g^-1 of the SnO₂ electrode derived from UV curing technology is obtained at a current density of 0.2 C (156.2 mA g^-1) after 150 cycles. Even at high rate of 5 C (3905 mA g^-1), the electrode still demonstrates specific capacity of 440.2 mA h g^-1. Therefore, the scalable and low-cost synthetic approach described herein can readily be extended to other nanomaterials electrodes to improve their lithium-storage properties.