Core-shell bimetallic carbide nanoparticles confined in a three-dimensional N-doped carbon conductive network for efficient lithium storage

Carbides represent a class of functional materials with unique properties and increasing importance. However, the harsh conditions in conventional synthetic strategies impede subtle control over size and morphology of carbides, which is highly imperative for their practical applications. Herein, we report a facile, simple approach to prepare porous Co₃ZnC/N-doped carbon hybrid nanospheres. In this structure, the Co₃ZnC nanoparticles exhibit a core-shell structure and they are uniformly confined in N-doped carbon conductive networks forming rather uniform nanospheres. The hybrid nanospheres have a specific surface area as high as 170.5 m² g^-1. When evaluated as an anode material for lithium ion batteries, they show an excellent lithium storage performance, which can be attributed to the combined effect of the core-shell Co₃ZnC nanoparticles, the pore structure and the highly conductive and elastic N-doped carbon networks. This work provides an efficient route for the facile production of nanoscale carbides with desirable manipulation over size and morphology for many of important applications.