Abstract
As electrode materials, transition metal oxides (TMOs) exhibit poor electrochemical performances owing to their inherent low electronic conductivity and considerable volume expansion and contraction during charge/discharge cycles. Designing TMOs with unique nanostructure and combining them with conductive carbon substrates are effective strategies to address the inherent issues. In this work, we designed C/Cu porous microspheres and grew Co3O4 nanosheets (NS) vertically on the carbon walls using an in situ synthesis route. As a conductive substrate, the C/Cu microspheres provide a hierarchical pore network and an electrode/electrolyte contact interface with large area, which can substantially enhance electron and ion diffusion kinetics. The in situ synthesized Co3O4 NSs are firmly anchored on the carbon walls, thereby increasing the structural durability of the composites in long-term cycling. Due to their unique structural characteristics, when using the C/Cu@Co3O4 composite microspheres as the anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, the batteries exhibit an enhanced rate performance (a high reversible specific capacity of 622 mA h g−1 at a current density of 5000 mA g−1), high charge-specific capacity (907 mA h g−1 at 100 mA g−1 after 200 cycles, and a stable specific capacity of 944 mA h g−1 over 800 cycles, even at a high current density of 1000 mA g−1), and excellent cycling stability.
摘要
过渡金属氧化物(TMOs)用作电极材料时, 会在循环过程中产生 严重的体积变化, 并且其自身的导电率也较低, 因此它的电化学性能较 差. 设计和开发独特的TMOs纳米结构并将其与导电碳基底相结合是改 善其电化学性能的有效策略. 本工作中, 我们设计了一种C/Cu多孔微 球, 并通过原位合成在碳壁上垂直生长Co3O4纳米片. 作为导电基底, C/Cu多孔微球提供了多尺度孔隙网络和大的电极/电解质接触界面, 显 著改善了电子和离子扩散动力学. 原位合成的3O4纳米片牢牢地固定 在碳壁上, 从而提高了复合微球在长期循环中的结构稳定性. 得益于独 特的结构特征, 用作锂离子电池负极材料的C/Cu@Co3O4复合多孔微球 表现出优异的倍率性能、高充电比容量和出色的循环稳定性.
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Acknowledgements
This work was financially supported by the Key Research and Development Program of Hubei Province (2020BCA079) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52173106). The authors thank the Core Facility of Wuhan University for characterizations.
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Author contributions Sun X conceived and designed the experiments, prepared and characterized the samples, analyzed the experimental data, and wrote the original manuscript. Zhang J assembled batteries. Zhang H helped analyze the data. Cao Y and Zhou J reviewed and edited the manuscript. Zhou J supervised the project.
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Xun Sun received his MS degree in polymer chemistry and physics from Fujian Normal University in 2018. He is currently pursuing his PhD degree at Wuhan University, where his current research focuses on natural polymeric materials for energy storage and conversion.
Jun Zhang received her BS degree (2022) in applied chemistry from China University of Petroleum. She is pursuing a Master’s degree at the College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University. Her research interests mainly focus on hard carbon anodes for sodium-ion batteries.
Huaran Zhang received his BS degree in chemical engineering and technology from Hefei University of Technology. Now he is pursuing his PhD degree at Wuhan University, and his research focuses on natural polymers-derived carbon materials for energy storage.
Yuliang Cao received his PhD degree (2003) from Wuhan University, and then he worked as a visiting scholar at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory from 2009 to 2011. He is now a professor at the College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University. His research interests focus on developing advanced materials (e.g., alloys, transition metal oxides, phosphates, and novel electrolytes) for sodium-ion batteries and LIBs.
Jinping Zhou is a professor at the College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, Wuhan University. He received his PhD degree in 2001 from the Department of Chemistry, Wuhan University. His research interests mainly focus on green methods for the modification and fiber spinning of cellulose, and functional materials based on natural polymers.
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Supplementary Information: Co3O4 nanosheets anchored on C/Cu porous microspheres as high-performance anode materials for lithium-ion battery
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Sun, X., Zhang, J., Zhang, H. et al. Co3O4 nanosheets anchored on C/Cu porous microspheres as high-performance anode materials for lithium-ion battery. Sci. China Mater. 66, 4575–4586 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-023-2637-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-023-2637-0