Template-directed metal oxides for electrochemical energy storage

Great efforts have been made to develop rechargeable lithium-ion batteries with large capacity, high energy/power densities, and long cycling life. Template technology offers an effective way in terms of either designing new-type electrode materials or modifying traditional battery configurations. With the aid of hard or soft templates, a variety of metal oxide materials with tunable morphologies and structures have been prepared. In this review, we focus on the recent progress in the template-assisted preparation of metal oxide electrode materials for lithium storage, particularly on the design and preparation of SnO2, and other transition metal oxides, such as TiO2, Fe2O(3), Co3O4, MnO2, MoO2 and V2O5. Template-directed metal oxide electrode materials with unique structures could effectively improve the lithium storage properties through designing well-defined structure and favorable morphology. By the systematic survey of template-prepared metal oxide electrode materials, we aim to stress the structural and morphological merits of the template-directed materials in comparison with their traditional bulk forms (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.