Mechanically Lithiated SnO as an Anode Material for Secondary Battery

To increase the first discharge (lithium extraction) efficiency of tin monoxide anode for lithium secondary battery, elemental lithium was added to SnO by mechanical alloying (MA) in advance. The resulting lithiated SnO (LixSnO) electrode was found to exhibit almost 100% of the first discharge efficiency at x=3.2. X-ray and electrochemical analyses revealed that the mechanically lithiated LixSnO appears to contain three phases of Li2O, β-Sn, and Li3.5Sn. Good cycle life performance of the electrode was obtained on the LixSnO/Cu composite.