Foamlike Porous Spinel Mn_<i>x</i>Co_3−<i>x</i>O₄ Material Derived from Mn₃[Co(CN)₆]₂⋅<i>n</i>H₂O Nanocubes: A Highly Efficient Anode Material for Lithium Batteries

Abstract

A new facile strategy has been designed to fabricate spinel Mn(x)Co(3-x)O(4) porous nanocubes, which involves a morphology-conserved and pyrolysis-induced transformation of Prussian Blue Analogue Mn(3)[Co(CN)(6)](2)⋅nH(2)O perfect nanocubes. Owing to the release of CO(2) and N(x)O(y) 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 Mn(x)Co(3-x)O(4) with foamlike porous nanostructure is effectively obtained. Importantly, when evaluated as an electrode material for lithium-ion batteries, the foamlike Mn(x)Co(3-x)O(4) 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.