Facile Preparation of Porous Mn2SnO4/Sn/C Composite Cubes as High Performance Anode Material for Lithium-Ion Batteries

In recent years, Sn-based materials have been explored as potential anodes for high energy lithium-ion batteries. However, their severe volume expansion in lithiation procedure could lead to poor cycling property and inferior rate capability, which limit the applications of Sn-based materials in lithium-ion batteries. In this study, we have designed and prepared uniform Mn2SnO4/Sn/carbon composite cubic particles with a porous structure as anode material through facile hydrothermal method and subsequent annealing process. The results demonstrate that the well-crystallized three-dimensional (3D) cubes with rounded corners consist of nanoparticles uniformly arranged in carbon matrix. The as-made Mn2SnO4/Sn/C anode exhibits excellent electrochemical performance and delivers 908 mA h g–1 of discharge capacity up to the 100th cycle at a current density of 500 mA g–1, with a Coulombic efficiency above 97%. The remarkable performance can be attributed to the formation of unique conductive frameworks and the porous structure.