Novel microwave synthesis of nanocrystalline SnO2 and its electrochemical properties

We report a sol-gel-assisted microwave synthesis of nanocrystalline tin oxide with a particle size of 15-18 nm. The microwave synthesis reaction can be completed in only a few minutes. In situ formation of amorphous carbon from the decomposition of citric acid used as a chelating agent provided both high microwave susceptibility for the faster formation reaction of SnO2 and also prevented agglomeration of nanoparticles maintaining the size as small as 15 nm. Microwave reaction time can be optimized for the presence of a small amount of carbon, which helped in improving the electrochemical performance of the synthesized SnO2 when used as an electroactive material in lithium ion battery with a very high reversible capacity similar to 900 mA h/g. The synthesis method could be extended for producing other metal oxide nanoparticles with controlled sizes.