Manganese-based cathodes are promising candidates for
aqueous zinc-ion
batteries (AZIBs) due to their high-voltage platform, low-price, environmental
friendliness, high theoretical capacity, and non-toxicity. Unfortunately,
their application is restricted due to issues such as manganese dissolution,
poor electrical conductivity, and poor volume expansion, which lead
to unsatisfactory rate performance and fast capacity decay. Hollow
Mn–Co–O@C yolk–shell microspheres with carbon
shells were fabricated from self-assembled Mn–Co-metal–organic
frameworks via combining facile normal temperature and annealing methods.
Mn–Co–O@C achieved an excellent specific capacity of
401 mA h g–1 and a capacity retention of 94.7% at
2 A g–1 after 2000 cycles. Its remarkable properties
are attributed to the hollow structure with high specific surface
areas and the mesoporous structure effectively buffering the large
volume change which provide additional storage sites and rapid electron/ion
transfer. Cobalt doping decelerates the dissolution of Mn2+, so as to maintain good structural stability and improve the specific
capacity due to the multielectron redox reaction of cobalt, as well
as the carbon coating with high conductivity and thermal stability
which can further inhibit the dissolution of manganese. The results
indicate that the Mn–Co–O@C hybrid can be a potential
cathode for AZIBs.