The invention provides a method for preparing a tin dioxide nano hollow sphere comprising nano rods and application in a lithium battery. The method for preparing the nano hollow sphere comprises thefollowing concrete steps: adding stannous sulfate into 50 ml of ionized water; then filling stannous sulfate aqueous solution into a stainless steel reaction vessel with a polytetrafluoroethylene substrate to carry out hydrothermal reaction at 200 DEG C for one day; washing and filtering the obtained product for three times by deionized water, drying at 70 DEG C for four hours and obtaining the high-purity nano hollow sphere which comprises the nano rods and is used for the lithium ion battery and a gas sensor or a solar energy electrical nano hollow sphere comprising the nano rods. The methodhas simple and convenient operation, low cost, high purity, favorable performance and no pollution.