Novel nanoarchitectured Zn2SnO4 anchored on porous carbon as high performance anodes for lithium ion batteries

•A new Zn2SnO4/C composite with urchin-like nanorod bundles was first prepared.•A new Zn2SnO4/C composite with nanoplate jungles was first prepared.•The as-prepared Zn2SnO4/C composites exhibit superior electrochemical performance.

Two types of nanoarchitectured Zn2SnO4/C composites including Zn2SnO4/MC and Zn2SnO4/MC–rGO are hydrothermally synthesized in the presence of graphene oxide (GO) and/or a micro- and mesoporous carbon (MC), the building blocks are nanoplate jungles and urchin-like nanorod bundles of Zn2SnO4 on surface of porous carbon, respectively. However, pure Zn2SnO4 particles synthesized under the same condition exhibit a tetrakaidecahedral geometry. Apparently, the MC pores and l-tryptophan are not the only factors inducing the formation of the nanoarchitectures. A small cathodic peak is observed at ca. 0.7 V during the first cyclic voltammetry (CV) scan of Zn2SnO4/MC–rGO, indicating a trace amount of SnO2 impurity that may attribute to the formation of nanorods other than nanoplates. The nanoarchitectured Zn2SnO4/C composites exhibit excellent high-rate capability and superior cycling performance as anode of lithium ion battery.