Abstract:
Transition metal oxides (TMOs) have received extensive attention for their unique physical and chemical properties. It is worth noting that Fe-based materials stand out because of their rich natural resources, low toxicity, low price and other advantages, but at the same time confront with critical challenges such as capacity attenuation and volume expansion. Here, a universal synthesis method of MO/MFe2O4 (M = Ni, Cu, Zn) nanomaterials derived from Prussian blue analogues (PBAs) is proposed based on the self-sacrificing template strategy of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). The calcined products retain the porous structure and small particle size of PBAs, which shorten the ion transport path, provide abundant electroactive sites and void space, effectively alleviate the effect of volume expansion, and improve the reaction kinetics. These MO/MFe2O4 anode materials exhibit excellent cyclic reversibility and stability during repeated charge/discharge process, among which, NiO/NiFe2O4 shows the best electrochemical performance, retaining a superior specific capacity of 1301.7 mAh g−1 following 230 cycles at 0.1 A g−1. In addition, the lithium adsorption capacity of the materials was further explored through the calculation of density functional theory (DFT). The research perspectives and strategies reported in this paper have strong universality and offer innovative insights for the synthesis of alternative advanced materials.