Facile synthesis of hollow MnO microcubes as superior anode materials for lithium-ion batteries

Hollow MnO microcubes with edge length about 8 μm are prepared by a thermal decomposition process of MnCO3 precursor, which are obtained via a simple hydrothermal method. The morphologies of the final products are controlled by adjusting the amount of urea so as to achieve good electrochemical property. The microcube varies from hollow structure to solid structure and the pore size with the increasing amount of urea. The hollow MnO microcube exhibits a high reversible capability in the first cycle is 901.4 mA h g−1 at 0.1 C, slightly decreases to 722.9 mA h g−1 at 0.5 C in the 4th cycle and rises to 914.6 mA h g−1 at 0.5 C even after 200 cycles. Furthermore, the same porous MnO hollow microcube delivers high rate reversible specific capacities of 339.4 mA h g−1 at 4 C. The excellent performance of hollow MnO microcube can be attributed to its high surface area and stable hollow structure, which facilitates lithium-ion and electron rapid transport while simultaneously accommodating the drastic volumetric change during electrochemical cycling.