Ion exchange for synthesis of porous CuxO/SnO2/ZnSnO3 microboxes as a high-performance lithium-ion battery anode

Binary Sn-based metal oxides are potential anode materials for lithium ion batteries (LIBs). However, they suffer from large volume expansion during the discharge/charge process, leading to poor cycling performance. In this work, a multicomponent CuxO/SnO2/ZnSnO3 composite with a porous structure was prepared by employing ZnSn(OH)(6) microcubes as precursors with the ion exchange method. Under high temperature, Cu2+ can exchange with partial Zn2+ in ZnSn(OH)(6) to form CuSn(OH)(6) microboxes. Then, through an annealing process, the porous CuxO/SnO2/ZnSnO3 composite was obtained, which also retained the box morphology. The CuxO/SnO2/ZnSnO3 microboxes can deliver an improved capacity of 615 mA h g(-1) due to the porous structure, which may enhance the transportation of Li+ and electrons. The ion exchange method for obtaining porous binary metal oxide nanomaterials can be used for fabricating other metal oxide composites in many areas such as LIBs, catalysts, etc.