Synthesis of PAN/SnCl2 composite as Li-ion battery anode material

A novel process was proposed to synthesize the pyrolytic polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/SnCl2 composite anode material for Li-ion batteries. The preparation started with the dissolution of PAN and SnCl2 in dimethylformamide (DMF), followed by drying of the solution and pyrolysis of the dried mixture of PAN and SnCl2 at 300 degrees C, leading to homogenous dispersal of SnCl2 in pyrolytic PAN, which becomes conducting polymer matrix. The composite presented stable cycling capacity of about 490 mAh/g. It is demonstrated that SnCl2, which has been considered to be an inactive electrode material, can become active by the proposed composite technique. This paves the promising way to prepare electrode materials for Li-ion batteries.