Tin on a carbon paper (CP) was investigated by repeated galvanostatic cycles with time-limited charges to insert different amounts of lithium per Sn atom, and tin electrodeposited on copper was also investigated for comparison of the cyclic stability. The results demonstrated that, unlike Sn electrodeposited on Cu foil, Sn on CP can undergo several tens of lithiathion/delithiation cycles with Li/Sn atomic ratio less than or equal to2 at high current density (0.70 mA cm(-2)), thus confirming that carbon paper is a good current collector-substrate which is able to improve the cycling performance of tin by preserving the electric contact over cycling, in spite of the great volume changes during the lithium insertion/removal processes in tin. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.