Hierarchically Pomegranate‐Like MnO@porous Carbon Microspheres as an Enhanced‐Capacity Anode for Lithium‐Ion Batteries

Abstract

Abstract Transition‐metal oxides have attracted much attention as promising anode materials, owing to high theoretical specific capacity for lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs). However, rapid performance degradation derived from poor electrical conductivity and drastic volume changes during the repeated lithium insertion/extraction processes has limited their practical applications. In this work, we design and prepare pomegranate‐like microspheres of nano‐sized MnO particles with gaps among them as the core and porous carbon as the shell (designated as PCMS@MnO) by using a facile three‐step process. In such unique PCMS@MnO, the porous carbon shell from phenolic resin is beneficial for the electronic conductivity and wettability, whereas the nano‐sized MnO particles with gaps among them confined in the porous carbon shell can effectively prevent aggregation and pulverization of active materials. As an anode material for LIBs, the PCMS@MnO with a carbon content of about 12 wt % exhibits remarkably high reversible capability (935 mAh g −1 at 100 mA g −1 ), outstanding rate performance, and superior cycling stability (527 mAh g −1 of 2000 mA g −1 after 2000 cycles). Our results suggest a great potential of pomegranate‐like transition‐metal oxide‐based composites as anode materials in high‐performance LIBs.