Facile Synthesis of Porous ZnMnO₃ Spherulites with a High Lithium Storage Capability

Graphical abstract: Porous ZnMnO₃ spherulites show an enhanced high lithium storage capability when potentially applied as a lithium-ion battery anode for the first time. - Highlights: • Composite Zn_0.5Mn_0.5CO₃ microspheres are facilely co-precipitated. • Porous ZnMnO₃ spherulites can be used as a lithium-ion battery anode. • Porous ZnMnO₃ spherulites show superior electrochemical properties. • A synergistic effect of Zn-O and Mn-O components in cubic ZnMnO₃ is proposed. - Abstract: In this paper, pure-phase ZnMnO₃ porous spherulites are uniquely synthesized through the thermal decomposition of Zn-Mn binary carbonate precursors facilely co-precipitated at room temperature, possessing an average diameter of 1.2 ± 0.3 μm and acquiring porosity with a specific surface area of 24.3 m² g⁻¹. When tentatively applied as lithium-ion battery anodes for the first time, these porous spherulites deliver an initial discharge capacity of 1294 mAh g⁻¹ at 500 mA g⁻¹ and retain an reversible value of 879 mAh g⁻¹ over 150 cycles. By comparison, the equimolar powder mixture of nano-sized ZnO and MnO₂ synergistically shows a higher lithium storage capability than the two unary transition metal oxides, but lower than anode material ZnMnO₃. Aside from its nanostructured characteristics, an inner atomic synergistic effect within the cubic lattices may account for the superior electrochemical performance of well-crystallized ZnMnO₃