Porous Co₃O₄ Nanosheets with Extraordinarily High Discharge Capacity for Lithium Batteries

Abstract

Abstract Cobalt and battery charge : Porous Co 3 O 4 with a hexagonal sheetlike structure has been synthesized through precursor Co(OH) 2 hexagonal nanosheets (see figure). The as‐prepared nanosheets exhibit excellent Li‐battery performance with a good cycle life and high capacity (1450 mAh g −1 ). magnified image In this work, we report the simple solid‐state formation of porous Co 3 O 4 with a hexagonal sheetlike structure. The synthesis is based on controlled thermal oxidative decomposition and recrystallization of precursor Co(OH) 2 hexagonal nanosheets. After thermal treatment, the hexagonal sheetlike morphology can be completely preserved, despite the fact that there is a volume contraction accompanying the process: Co(OH) 2 →Co 3 O 4 . Because of the intrinsic crystal contraction, a highly porous structure of the product is simultaneously created. Importantly, when evaluated as electrode materials for lithium‐ion batteries, the as‐prepared porous Co 3 O 4 nanosheets exhibit superior Li‐battery performance with good cycle life and high capacity (1450 mAh g −1 ) due to their porous sheetlike structure and small size. As far as we know, the performance of the Co 3 O 4 ‐based anode materials for lithium batteries presented here is the best up to now. Considering the improved performance and cost‐effective synthesis, the as‐prepared porous Co 3 O 4 nanosheets might be suitable as anode electrodes for next‐generation lithium‐ion batteries.