Rapid low-temperature synthesis of mesoporous nanophase ZnFe2O4 with enhanced lithium storage properties for Li-ion batteries

Abstract

In this work, a rapid low-temperature and cost-effective refluxing synthesis strategy was elegantly designed, and elaborately developed for high-yield fabrication of mesoporous nanocrystalline ZnFe₂O₄ with nano-scaled size of ∼7 nm, desirable mesoporosity and large specific surface area. Benefitting from these admirable nanostructured architectures, the as-derived nanophase ZnFe₂O₄ exhibited excellent discharge capacity of 1322 mA h g⁻¹ on the first cycle, and showed outstanding cycling durability, rate capability, and coulombic efficiency even at high current rates when evaluated as an anode for Li-ion batteries. More importantly, a low temperature of 100 °C and short reaction time of 5 h were applied here; therefore, the efficient synthetic strategy we proposed herein is advocated for scaled-up commercial application.