<p>In this paper, to address the poor conductivity and structural collapse of Mn₃O₄ cathode material for zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs), Co doping was employed to increase its electronic conductivity and structural stability. Co-doped Mn₃O₄ nanoparticles were synthesized by sintering an anhydrous gel containing manganese acetate, cobalt acetate, polyacrylonitrile (PAN), and N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF). The Co-doped Mn₃O₄ nanoparticles prepared under the Mn/Co molar ratio of 9:1 (denoted as Co-Mn₃O₄-9:1) exhibit the best electrochemical performance. They are composed of nanoparticles with the size of 30–50&#xa0;nm; and the gaps between the nanoparticles result in their porous structure. Co-Mn₃O₄-9:1 presents high capacity and good cyclic stability. Under the current density of 0.2&#xa0;A g^− 1, even after 300 cycles, it still maintains the high capacity of 237 mAh g^− 1. As structural pillars, doped-Co ions can improve the structural stability of Mn₃O₄, leading to the good cyclic stability of Co-Mn₃O₄-9:1. The doped-Co ions also disrupt the periodic potential field of Mn₃O₄ crystal, increasing the electronic conductivity of Co-Mn₃O₄-9:1. As a precursor, anhydrous gel can avoid nanoparticle aggregation caused by strong polar water solvents, resulting in the produced nanoparticles with large specific surface area and abundant pore structure. The further increase of doped Co-ions without Zn-ion storage activity will reduce the capacity of Mn₃O₄.</p>