The reaction of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) and tin oxide (II) (SnO) provides an amorphous product (PSnA), which was found to be a promising precursor of an anode material for lithium ion batteries. The anode electrode composed of PSnA as the active material and polyimide as the binder showed a better cycling performance than the anode electrode using SnO as the active material. It is considered that the organic polymer chain present in PSnA might act as a buffer to the volume change in the active material during the charge–discharge cycles. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results of the electrode after delithiation revealed that nano-sized cubic tin (α-Sn) and tetragonal tin (β-Sn) particles are formed in the active material. Therefore, it is concluded that these nano-sized tin particles in the polymer matrix were effective for the storage and release of Li ions.