Synthesis of ZnMoO₄ with different polymorphas anode materials for lithium–ion batteries application

Two different polymorphs of α-ZnMoO₄ and β-ZnMoO₄ were successfully synthesized by simple hydrothermal method and subsequent heat treatment. The XRD, XPS, SEM and EDX techniques were used to characterize their structure and morphology. The electrochemical performances were studied. It is found that α-ZnMoO₄ has more outstanding electrochemical performance than that of β-ZnMoO₄. The α-ZnMoO₄ has an initial discharge specific capacity of 1432.3 mAh g⁻¹, and maintain it as 1008.7 mAh g⁻¹ after 100 cycles at a current density of 0.2 A g⁻¹. However, the initial capacity of β-ZnMoO₄ is only 892.5 mAh g⁻¹. It kept at 271.0 mAh g⁻¹ after 100 cycles. At the same time, the rate performance of α-ZnMoO₄ is better than that of β-ZnMoO₄. Therefore α-ZnMoO₄ is a promising anode material for lithium ion batteries (LIBs) application. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019.