A SnO2-carbon composite prepared by heat treating a mixture of colloidal SnO2 and sucrose demonstrated a reversible lithium storage capacity of 680 mA h/g on the 1st cycle. The discharge curve of the composite did not exhibit the 1.0 V plateau characteristic of SnO2. The high reversible capacity of the composite suggests that lithium is stored in both tin and carbon. The composite demonstrated reduced capacity fade over SnO2 as well as SnO:graphite and Sn:graphite composites. Published by Elsevier Science B.V.