Facile synthesis of Mn2O3/Mn3O4 composites with superior zinc ion storage performance

Mn2O3/Mn3O4 composites are synthesized by a facile thermal decomposition strategy with MnCl2·4H2O and sucrose as raw materials. The addition of sucrose induces the phase structure of manganese oxides to transform from single Mn2O3 into Mn2O3/Mn3O4 composites, reduction of particle size, and much-enhanced zinc storage performances. The Mn2O3/Mn3O4 sample (MO-1.0) prepared with the Mn2+/sucrose molar ratio of 1:1 exhibits the best zinc storage performances, delivering a high specific capacity of 345 mA h g−1 at 200 mA g−1 after 120 discharge/charge cycles and 122 mA h g−1 at 1000 mA g−1 after 1000 discharge/charge cycles. At the current density of 2000 mA g−1, it also delivers a high specific capacity of 143.3 mA h g−1. The present work offers a facile and cost-efficient method for preparing high-performance Mn2O3/Mn3O4 composite cathode materials of ZIBs.