Highly patterned cylindrical Ni-Sn alloy anode with 3-dimesionally ordered macroporous (3DOM) structure was successfully prepared by colloidal crystal templating method combined with electroplating method using photoresist substrate Scanning electron microscopy observations revealed that 3DOM cylinders of Ni-Sn alloy electrode composed of uniform interconnected macropores with the size of 1 0 mu m diameter The size of macropores in porous Ni-Sn cylinders was in good agreement to the sizes of PS bead used as templates The charge and discharge curves of cylindrical Sn-Ni alloys with 3DOM structure showed a potential plateau at around 0 4V vs Li/Li+ indicating the lithiation and delithiation processes to (/from) Sn in porous Ni-Sn alloy anode The cycle performance of prepared Ni-Sn alloy was tested in a course of controlling the state of charge (SOC) Ni-Sn alloy anode cycle-test at the condition of 67% SOC showed an excellent cycle stability even at 200 cycles and the coulombic efficiency was more than 99% (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved