Controlled growth of flower-like SnS2 hierarchical structures with superior performance for lithium-ion battery applications

Controlled growth of flower-like SnS2 hierarchical structures was obtained by a facile hydrothermal method with the mixture solution of SnCl4 and L-cysteine (L-cys). The results of electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction characterization indicated that morphology, structure, and crystallinity of the hierarchical structures were seriously dependent on the concentration of L-cys, mole ratio of Sn4+ to L-cys and temperature. Electrochemical tests demonstrated that the flower-like SnS2 hierarchical structures exhibited superior cycling performance for anode materials of Li-ion batteries, which retained a high reversible capacity of 418 mAhg(-1) and stable cyclic retention at 100th cycle. These results show that the flower-like SnS2 hierarchical structures were suitable for using as anode material in lithium-ion batteries.