  Batteries are the most abundant form of electrochemical energy storage.
Lithium and sodium ion batteries account for a significant portion of the
battery market, but high-performance electrochemically active materials still
need to be discovered and optimized for these technologies. Recently, tin(II)
oxide (SnO) has emerged as a highly-promising battery electrode. In this work,
we present a facile synthesis method to produce SnO nanoparticles whose size
and shape can be tailored by changing the solvent nature. We study the complex
relationship between wet chemistry synthesis conditions and resulting layered
nanoparticle morphology. Furthermore, high-level electronic structure theory,
including dispersion corrections to account for van der Waals forces, are
employed to enhance our understanding of the underlying chemical mechanisms.
The electronic vacuum alignment and surface energies are determined, allowing
the prediction of the thermodynamically-favoured crystal shape (Wulff
construction) and surface-weighted work function. Finally, the synthesized
nanomaterials were tested as Li-ion battery anodes, demonstrating significantly
enhanced electrochemical performance for morphologies obtained from specific
synthesis conditions.
