1578 ISSN 0036-0236, Russian Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, 2016, Vol. 61, No. 12, pp. 1578–1583. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2016. Original Russian Text © A.A. Mikhaylov, A.G. Medvedev, T.A. Tripol’skaya, E.A. Mel’nik, P.V. Prikhodchenko, O. Lev, 2016, published in Zhurnal Neorganicheskoi Khimii, 2016, Vol. 61, No. 12, pp. 1640–1645. Morphology and Electrochemical Properties of a Composite Produced by a Peroxide Method on the Basis of Tin Dioxide and Carbon Black A. A. Mikhaylov a , A. G. Medvedev a , T. A. Tripol’skaya a , E. A. Mel’nik a , P. V. Prikhodchenko a, *, and O. Lev b a Kurnakov Institute of General and Inorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119991 Russia b The Casali Institute of Applied Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra Campus, Givat Ram, Jerusalem, 91904 Israel *e-mail: prikhman@gmail.com Received April 25, 2016 Abstract—Using peroxostannate as a precursor, a composite material based on tin dioxide and carbon black was obtained, in which tin dioxide forms a coating on the surface of carbon black nanoparticles. The synthe- sized material was characterized by electron microscopy and X-ray powder diffraction analysis, and also the electrochemical characteristics of this material as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries were studied. The material demonstrates good stability and rate performance, which is indicative of the efficiency of the peroxide method for producing promising inexpensive anode materials based on tin dioxide and carbon black. DOI: 10.1134/S0036023616120147 Nanomaterials based on tin dioxide are of great sci- entific and practical interest and are widely used as electrodes for solar cells [1–11] and components in light-emitting diodes [12–14], liquid-crystal displays [15–18], transistors [19, 20], and also the so-called “smart windows” [21–23] and gas sensors [24–29]. There are a variety of methods for producing thin films based on tin oxides. Most of the “dry” methods consist in deposition of ready stabilized nanocrystal- line oxide dispersions to the surface of a substrate and are inapplicable when the substrates are nano- or microsized particles. A significant part of the “wet” methods for forming films of tin oxides are based on sol–gel chemistry and involve using acidic solutions containing chloro or alkoxy precursors, hydrolysis of which leads to the formation of tin hydroxide and sub- sequent SnO 2 crystallization. We have recently proposed a peroxide method for producing thin films based on p-element oxides, in which sol–gel chemistry is used to form thin oxide films on the surface of materials unstable in acidic media. This method is based on using water–peroxide solutions of peroxostannate or peroxo compounds of other p elements as precursors. Addition of an excess of an organic antisolvent (ethanol, methanol, diethyl ether, or their mixture) to a water–peroxide solution of peroxo complexes of tin [30–32], antimony [33, 34], germanium [35], or any other p-element leads to the deposition of a thin film of the respective peroxo compound to the surface of a substrate material placed preliminarily in the system. A further chemical and/or heat treatment of the obtained product produces nanosized coatings of the respective oxides or sulfides on substrates of various compositions and morpholo- gies, including the surface of graphene oxide and acid- nonresistant inorganic materials [30, 33, 34, 36–40]. Recently, by the example of sodium stannate, it has been shown that the peroxide method can produce coatings based not only on oxides, but also on salts of p elements [40]. A significant part of the promising nanomaterials containing tin compounds are composites with nano- sized coatings. In particular, in many recent works, studies have been made of the synthesis and properties of composite materials in which tin dioxide forms thin films on the surface of graphene oxide particles. These materials were proposed to be used as electrode mate- rials for lithium- [41–49] and sodium-ion batteries [50]. Introduction of a nanosized carbon substrate to a composite increases the electrical conductivity, enhances the diffusion of lithium or sodium ions owing to the large surface area of the material, and also improves the resistance of the material to reversible volume changes during battery cycling. However, the cost of graphene oxide is currently relatively high, which limits the use of composites based on it in pro- ducing anode materials. Therefore, it seems topical to PHYSICAL METHODS OF INVESTIGATION