Facile synthesis of ZnO/mesoporous carbon nanocomposites as high-performance anode for lithium-ion battery

•ZnO/mesoporous carbon nanocomposite was obtained via a facile strategy.•Nitrate decomposition during calcination is a key to the mesopore formation.•The nanocomposite shows a high reversible capacity over 600 mAh g−1.

ZnO/mesoporous carbon nanocomposites have been prepared from polyvinyl alcohol, zinc nitrate hexahydrate and ammonium hydroxide via a facile, scalable precipitation method followed by a calcination process. XRD, N2 adsorption, TEM, TGA and FT-IR were used to investigate the composition and microstructure of the obtained product. The electrochemical properties of ZnO/C and ZnO electrodes were comparatively studied by constant current charge–discharge and cyclic voltammetry. ZnO nanoparticles with diameter around 6.3 nm are uniformly dispersed in the amorphous carbon matrix. ZnO/C nanocomposites as anode of lithium-ion battery deliver a stable reversible capacity of 610 mAh g−1 at 100 mA g−1 even after 50 cycles, showing that ZnO/C nanocomposites have potential application for lithium-ion battery.

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