A hybrid of tin dioxide submicrorods anchored on conductive nickel foam (SnO2 submicrorods-Ni foam) is in-situ synthesized via a hydrothermal and a subsequent heat treatment by using stannic chloride and sodium hydroxide as the starting materials. Characterization results indicate that the synthesized SnO2 submicrorods has a length of similar to 400 nm and a diameter of similar to 150 nm anchoring tightly on Ni foam. The electrochemical properties of the material as an additive-free anode for sodium-ion batteries are investigated. And a comparative research of the reversible sodium storage properties between the additive-free electrode of SnO2 submicrorods-Ni foam and the additive electrode of SnO2 rod-assembly microspheres is carried out. The results demonstrate that the SnO2 submicrorods-Ni foam is a highly attractive anode for sodium ion batteries, which could exhibit much better sodium storage properties than the SnO2 rod-assembly microspheres and other reported SnO2-based additive electrodes. The excellent sodium storage properties of the SnO2 submicrorods-Ni foam electrode can be attributed to its structure advantages without additive-assistant, which increase sodium storage active sites, facilitate the electronic/ionic transport and stabilize the total electrode structure during charge-discharge process. (C) 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.