Nearly monosized Sn nanoparticles were produced by an in situ prepared single-source molecular precursor approach. The experimental conditions in the NaBH 4 reduction of (phen͒SnCl 4 (phen ϭ 1, 10 phenanthroline͒ in water were carefully controlled to produce two different particle size ranges, 2-5 nm ͑mean: 3.5 nm, standard deviation: 0.8 nm͒ and 7-13 nm ͑mean: 10.0 nm, standard deviation: 1.7 nm͒. The Sn nanoparticles were subsequently dispersed in graphite ͑KS6͒ and the application of the resulting nanocomposites as an active anode material for Li-ion batteries was explored. The graphite-Sn nanocomposites showed significant improvement in the cyclability of Sn over previously reported results. The cyclability improvement is believed to be due to the smallness of the Sn particles and their uniform distribution in a soft matrix ͑graphite͒ which, in addition to being a capable Li ϩ host, could also effectively buffer the specific volume changes in Sn-based Li storage compounds during charging (Li ϩ insertion͒ and discharging (Li ϩ extraction͒ reactions.
A method to produce nanocomposite polymer electrolytes consisting of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) as the polymer matrix, lithium tetrafluoroborate (LiBF 4 ) as the lithium salt, and TiO 2 as the inert ceramic filler is described. The ceramic filler, TiO 2 , was synthesized in situ by a sol-gel process. The morphology and crystallinity of the nanocomposite polymer electrolytes were examined by scanning electron microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry, respectively. The electrochemical properties of interest to battery applications, such as ionic conductivity, Li ϩ transference number, and stability window were investigated. The room-temperature ionic conductivity of these polymer electrolytes was an order of magnitude higher than that of the TiO 2 free sample. A high Li ϩ transference number of 0.51 was recorded, and the nanocomposite electrolyte was found to be electrochemically stable up to 4.5 V versus Li ϩ /Li.
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