Synthesis of amorphous ZnSnO3 hollow nanoboxes and their lithium storage properties

Abstract Amorphous ZnSnO 3 hollow nanoboxes were synthesized for the first time in a large scale by a facile alkaline solution etching method. Specifically, solid and hollow nanocubes of precursor ZnSn(OH) 6 were first prepared successively with controllable amounts of alkali. ZnSnO 3 hollow nanoboxes with amorphous phase were obtained after calcination of the hollow precursors, and they well inherited the hollow morphology of the precursors. As an anode material for lithium-ion batteries, the synthesized ZnSnO 3 hollow nanoboxes had a high initial reversible capacity of 661 mA h g −1 at 0.1 A g −1 rate and acceptable rate performance. These good performances can be attributed to the hollow nanostructures that accommodate the large volume change during the alloying–dealloying process.