Heterostructured core–shell ZnMn 2 O 4 nanosheets@carbon nanotubes’ coaxial nanocables: a competitive anode towards high-performance Li-ion batteries

In this study, we rationally designed a rapid, low-temperature yet general synthetic methodology for the first time, involving in situ growth of two-dimensional (2D) birnessite-type MnO 2 nanosheets (NSs) upon each carbon nanotube (CNT), and we designed the subsequent phase transformation into untrathin mesoporous ZnMn 2 O 4 NSs with a thickness of ∼2–3 nm at room temperature to efficiently fabricate heterostructured core–shell ZnMn 2 O 4 NSs@CNT coaxial nanocables with well-dispersed and tunable ZnMn 2 O 4 loading. The underlying insights into the low-temperature formation mechanism of the unique core–shell hybrid nanoarchitectures were tentatively proposed here. When utilized as a high-performance anode for advanced LIBs, the resultant core–shell ZnMn 2 O 4 @CNTs’ coaxial nanocables (∼84.5 wt.% loading) exhibited large specific discharge capacity (∼1033 mAh g −1 ), good rate cap...

Changzhou Yuan, Longhai Zhang, Siqi Zhu, Hui Cao, Jingdong Lin and Linrui Hou

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