Foamlike Porous Spinel MnxCo3-xO4 Material Derived from Mn3[Co(CN)6]2•nH2O Nanocubes: A Highly Efficient Anode Material for Lithium Batteries

A new facile strategy has been designed to fabricate spinel MnxCo3-xO4 porous nanocubes, which involves a morphology-conserved and pyrolysis-induced transformation of Prussian Blue Analogue Mn3[Co(CN)6]2 center dot nH2O perfect nanocubes. Owing to the release of CO2 and NxOy in the process of interdiffusion, this strategy can overcome to a large extent the disadvantage of the traditional ceramic route for synthesis of spinels, and MnxCo3-xO4 with foamlike porous nanostructure is effectively obtained. Importantly, when evaluated as an electrode material for lithium-ion batteries, the foamlike MnxCo3-xO4 porous nanocubes display high specific discharge capacity and excellent rate capability. The improved electrochemical performance is attributed to the beneficial features of the particular foamlike porous nanostructure and large surface area, which reduce the diffusion length for Li+ ions and enhance the structural integrity with sufficient void space for buffering the volume variation during the Li+ insertion/extraction.