From ZnSn(OH)6 to SnS2: Topotactic transformation synthesis of SnS2 hierarchical microcubes with superior Li-ion storage performance.

The 3D hierarchical microstructured electrodes by assembling the individual 1D/2D nanosubunits can fully take advantage of the merit of 1D/2D nanostructured materials, as well as alleviate their drawbacks. In this work, SnS 2 3D hierarchical microcubes consisting of 2D nanosheet subunits were facilely synthesized via a simple topotactic transformation with room-temperature coprecipitated ZnSn(OH) 6 microcubes as the template. Compared to bulk counterparts, this microstructured SnS 2 was found to have a unique morphology and electrochemical interfacial regions that facilitated highly efficient Li-ion insertion/extraction and effectively accommodate the large volume changes during charge/discharge cycles. Over the whole 200 cycles at 1C current density, an outstanding cycleing stability is exhibited, with a high stable specific capacity of about 640 mA h g −1 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]