Synthesis of amorphous ZnSnO3 hollow nanoboxes and their lithium storage properties

Amorphous ZnSnO3 hollow nanoboxes were synthesized for the first time in a large scale by a facile alkaline solution etching method. Specifically, solid and hollow nanocubes of precursor ZnSn(OH)(6) were first prepared successively with controllable amounts of alkali. ZnSnO3 hollow nanoboxes with amorphous phase were obtained after calcination of the hollow precursors, and they well inherited the hollow morphology of the precursors. As an anode material for lithium-ion batteries, the synthesized ZnSnO3 hollow nanoboxes had a high initial reversible capacity of 661 mA h g(-1) at 0.1 A g(-1) rate and acceptable rate performance. These good performances can be attributed to the hollow nanostructures that accommodate the large volume change during the alloying-dealloying process. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.