Structural, optical and electrochemical properties of SnO$_{2-x}$ thin films

Tin dioxide is considered to be one of the promising anode materials for Li-ion battery because it has high energy density ($\sim $780 mAhg$^{-1})$. We synthesized SnO$_{2-x}$ thin films by a facile cost effective method of metalorganic decomposition technique using Tin 2 ethylhexanoate as the precursor. Ten layers of precursor solution are spin coated on stainless steel substrates and processed at 500 $^{circ}$C for two minutes after each coating. The resulting films were annealed at various ambient such as air, hydrogen (10{\%} in Ar) and high vacuum (10$^{-6}$ torr) at different temperatures from 500$^{circ}$C to 700$^{circ}$C. The structure and composition of these films were analyzed by Raman spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to study the effect of synthesis condition on crystallinity, microstructure, and chemical composition. We also prepared thin films on ITO coated glass/quartz substrates under identical conditions for optical analysis. The structure and electrochemical property correlations of these films processed under different ambient will be presented.