Selective Formation of Carbon-Coated, Metastable Amorphous ZnSnO3 Nanocubes Containing Mesopores for Use as High-Capacity Lithium-Ion Battery

Mesoporous and amorphous ZnSnO3 nanocubes of similar to 37 nm size coated with a thin porous carbon layer have been prepared using monodisperse ZnSn(OH)(6) as the active precursor and low-temperature synthesized polydopamine as the carbon precursor. The small single nanocubes cross-link with each other to form a continuous conductive framework and interconnected porous channels with macropores of 74 nm width. Because of its multi-featured nanostructure, this material exhibits greatly enhanced integration of reversible alloying/de-alloying (i.e., transformation of Li4.4Sn and LiZn to Sn and Zn) and conversion (i.e., oxidation of Sn and Zn to ZnSnO3) reaction processes with an extremely high capacity of 1060 mA h g(-1) for up to 100 cycles. A high reversible capacity of 650 and 380 mA h g(-1) can also be delivered at rates of 2 and 3 A g(-1), respectively. This excellent electrochemical performance is attributed to the small particle size, well-developed mesoporosity, the amorphous nature of the ZnSnO3 and the continuous conductive framework produced by the interconnected carbon layers.