Engineering hollow multi-shelled Co3O4 cubes to boost lithium storage performance

• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2021.149022
• Publication Date: 2021-01-14T07:15:39Z
• Authors: Junyu Xiao; Zhengxiang Zhu; Guoqiang Zhang; Haoyu Li; Yongliang Li; Xiangzhong Ren; Peixin Zhang; Hongwei Mi
• Keywords: 01 natural sciences; 7. Clean energy; 0104 chemical sciences

Abstract To solve the low conductivity and huge volume change of cobalt-based anode, the tuneable Co3O4 structure is constructed through a template-free hydrothermal strategy and calcination under different atmosphere. Multi-shelled Co3O4 (MS-Co3O4) and pomegranate-like Co3O4 encapsulated in carbon (CS-Co3O4@C) are fabricated from the same micron-sized cobalt-based polymeric precursor. MS-Co3O4 manifests a capacity of 1195 mAh·g−1 at a current density of 200 mA·g−1 and delivers an initial coulombic efficiency (ICE) of 80.3%. In addition, CS-Co3O4@C delivers a reversible capacity as high as 676 mAh·g−1 at 2000 mA·g−1 after 500 cycles. Such high capacity, remarkable cycling and rate performances are attributed to hollow multi-shelled structure and carbon network skeleton, which promote the initial coulombic efficiency, relieve volume change and facilitate the migration of Li-ion.