One-Pot Solvothermal Synthesis of ZnO@α-Co(OH)2 Core-Shell Hierarchical Microspheres with Superior Lithium Storage Properties

ZnO and Co(OH)(2) are significant functional materials that have been attracting immense interest in recent years because of their great potential application in various fields. Here, we developed a one-pot synthetic method to combine two materials into Zn0@alpha-Co(OH)(2) core shell hierarchical microspheres (CSHMSs) via the epitaxial growth of alpha-Co(OH)(2), nanosheets on ZnO twin-hemispheres for the first time. By varying the volume ratio of N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) to ethanol, uniform and well-defined CSHMSs were prepared. Additionally, the appropriate amount of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) with certain molecular weight and the synergistic effect of different anions of precursors were found to be crucial to the formation of Zn0@a-Co(OH)(2) CSHMSs. Compared with the bare ZnO twin-hemispheres, these CSHMSs indicated enhanced electrochemical activity, including high reversible capacity, excellent cycling stability, and rate performance, when examined as anodes for lithium-ion batteries. The remarkable electrochemical performance of the CSHMSs is attributed to their unique hierarchical micro/nanostructure, the synergistic effect, and the interface effect of bicomponent active materials.