Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of SnO₂@polypyrrole Nanotubes and Their Pyrolyzed Composite as Anode for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Tin dioxide (SnO2) as lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) anode has attracted numerous interests due to its huge Li(+) storage capacity. However, more than 300% volume variation of SnO2 during the charge/discharge process results in dramatic degradation of electrochemical performance and thus poor cyclic stability, which has hindered its application in LIBs. Here, a new strategy is proposed to suppress this volume change via anchoring mesoporous SnO2 on robust polypyrrole nanotubes (PPy NTs) to fabricate nanoarchitectured SnO2 composite. Benefiting from this nanoarchitecture design, the anode presents outstanding rate performance with a reversible specific capacity of about 770 mA h g(-1) at 2000 mA g(-1) and remarkable cyclability accompanied by a high specific capacity of about 790 mA h g(-1) at 200 mA g(-1) after 200 cycles.