Micro/Nanostructured Co3O4 as an Anode Material for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Co3O4 is considered to be a promising alternative to the conventional graphite anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to its high theoretical specific capacity. However, its poor conductivity, short diffusion length, and significant volume changes during the lithiation and delithiation processes hamper its rate capabilities and cycling stability, limiting its use as an anode in LIBs. To address these issues, many synthetic strategies such as elemental doping, surface coating, carbon composites, and heterostructures have been extensively explored. In this work, a micro/nanostructured Co3O4 has been suitably designed to overcome the above-mentioned limitations by using a simple template approach. The enhanced rate capabilities and cycling stability of the conversion-based anode without the need for any carbon support or composite could be attributed to micro/nanostructuring. The micro/nanostructured Co3O4 anode exhibits high rate capabilities (239 mAh g–1 at 5 A g–1) and superior cycling stability (∼590 mAh g–1 at 0.5 A g–1 for 800 cycles). Upon further analysis, it is observed that the anode operation is governed by a significant capacitive component, contributing to the rapid reaction kinetics and providing exceptional stability to the anode.