MOF-directed templating synthesis of a porous multicomponent dodecahedron with hollow interiors for enhanced lithium-ion battery anodes

• Main Authors: Sun, Chencheng, Yang, Jun, Rui, Xianhong, Zhang, Weina, Yan, Qingyu, Chen, Peng, Huo, Fengwei, Huang, Wei, Dong, Xiaochen
• Other Authors: School of Materials Science & Engineering
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: Lithium alloys; Porous nanostructures
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/82055; http://hdl.handle.net/10220/39759
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The high performance of lithium-ion battery (LIB) electrodes relies largely on the meticulous design of hierarchical nanostructures with optimal balance between superior electrochemical properties and conductivity. Herein, we present a facile and cost-effective solvothermal method to fabricate a porous NiCo2O4/NiO hollow dodecahedron using zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67) as both a precursor and a self-sacrificing template. Accurate control between the template etching and the precipitation of the shells is crucial to the preparation of the perfect nanocages. Serving as LIB anode materials, such metal–organic framework derived multiple transition metal oxides demonstrate a high reversible capacity of 1535 mA h g−1 at 0.2 A g−1 and a good cycling stability (97.2% retention after 100 cycles). The presented strategy represents a general route to synthesize various hierarchically interconnected and porous nanostructures of mixed transition metal oxides which are promising for a range of applications.