Amorphous modified bimetallic ZIF as a superior performance anode for lithium-ion batteries

Zeolite imidazole organic frameworks (ZIF) are frequently utilized as electrode materials owing to the hierarchical porous structure and highly active sites. However, most of the studies have mainly focus on heat-treated ZIF-derived carbon-based materials, which cause excessive specific surface area, inferior structural stability, and the loss of functional groups. In this work, amorphous modified bimetallic ZIF with a hierarchical nanoparticle structure was prepared using a chemical oxidation reaction for the first time. The amorphous ZIF preserves the structural integrity of functional groups with Li+ + storage activity while enhancing electronic and ionic conductivity for enhanced charge transfer efficiency during cycling. The amorphous ZIF exhibits impressive capacity (a discharge specific capacity of 1086.2 mA h g- 1 at a current density of 1 A g- 1 in the 5th cycle and no decrease in subsequent 600 cycles) and super rate performance (57.7 % capacity retention even at 10 A g- 1 ) when used as LIBs anode. This study provides a new insight and method for ZIF as a high-capacity and stable anode material for LIBs.