Wheat-like Co3O4 on carbon derived from silk as anode materials for enhanced lithium storage

The design and preparation of hierarchical porous transition metal oxide-carbon matrix anodes with unique structure play the significant role in highly reversible lithium ion batteries. Herein, hierarchical porous wheat-like Co3O4 on carbon derived from natural silk (named as [email protected]3O4) nanobelts are fabricated successfully by one-step hydrothermal technique and ensuing high-temperature calcination. The wheat-like [email protected]3O4 nanobelts consist of a number of nanobeams. The length of nanobelts is around 1 µm whereas the diameter is 200 nm. Moreover, the [email protected]3O4 anode for lithium ion batteries retains 1108 mA h g−1 following 100 cycles at 100 mA g−1, 707 mA h g−1 and 709 mA h g−1 after 150 cycles at 2 A g−1, 625 mA h g−1 and 617 mA h g−1 after 150 cycles at 5 A g−1,which show extraordinary cycle stability of the composite. The remarkable lithium storage property results from the hierarchical porous structure and this structure can not only provide a short ion transport path but also raise the area of contact between the electrolyte and electrode.