A modified hydrothermal method was developed to synthesize tin oxide doped with highly dispersed silicon oxide. The microstructure, morphology and electrochemical performance of the mixtures were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), infra-red (IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrochemical methods. The average size of the particles is about 30nm. Silicon oxide as matrix should be able to support the anode changes accompanied by the formation of lithium–tin alloys, thus an improvement of the cycleability of the Li-ion battery would be expected. The electrochemical results showed that addition of silicon oxide reduces the irreversible capacity during the first discharge/charge cycle. The material delivers a charge capacity of more than 750mAhg−1. The capacity loss per-cycle is about 0.9% after cycling 20 times. The electrochemical performance indicates that silicon oxide is an appropriate matrix and these composites are good anode candidates for application in lithium-ion batteries.