Ethylene glycol combustion strategy towards 3D mesoporous ZnCo2O4 as anodes for Li-ion batteries

Abstract A facile and fast ethylene glycol combustion strategy was developed to the synthesis of three-dimension (3D) mesoporous ZnCo2O4 architectures. It was found that the volume of colloidal silica employed in the combustion system exerts a profound impact on the specific surface area (SSA) and pore volume of 3D porous ZnCo2O4. The SSA and pore volume of 3D mesoporous ZnCo2O4–400 could reach up to 130 m2 g−1 and 0.641 cm3 g−1 when 400 μL of colloidal silica was used in the combustion system. When used as the LIB's anodes, the 3D mesoporous ZnCo2O4–400 could show high reversible capacity and superior cycling performance. The excellent performance is attributed to the high SSA and abundant mesoporous structures in the 3D mesoporous ZnCo2O4–400 architectures. The present work not only offers a novel synthetic route towards 3D mesoporous ZnCo2O4 but also demonstrates the vast prospect of 3D mesoporous ZnCo2O4 as the anode material for Li-ion batteries (LIBs).