Stabilizing Co<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> nanorods/N-doped graphene as advanced anode for lithium-ion batteries

doi:10.1007/s11706-021-0552-x

Front. Mater. Sci.

2021, Vol. 15

Issue (2) : 216-226 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11706-021-0552-x

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Stabilizing Co₃O₄ nanorods/N-doped graphene as advanced anode for lithium-ion batteries

Yishan WANG^1,³, Xueqian ZHANG^1,²(

), Fanpeng MENG², Guangwu WEN¹(

)

¹. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255000, China
². Shandong Guiyuan Advanced Ceramic Company Limited, Zibo 255086, China
³. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China

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Abstract

Tricobalt tetroxide (Co₃O₄) is one of the promising anodes for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to its high theoretical capacity. However, the poor electrical conductivity and the rapid capacity decay hamper its practical application. In this work, we design and fabricate a hierarchical Co₃O₄ nanorods/N-doped graphene (Co₃O₄/NG) material by a facile hydrothermal method. The nitrogen-doped graphene layers could buffer the volume change of Co₃O₄ nanorods during the delithium/lithium process, increase the electrical conductivity, and profit the diffusion of ions. As an anode, the Co₃O₄/NG material reveals high specific capacities of 1873.8 mA·h·g⁻¹ after 120 cycles at 0.1 A·g⁻¹ as well as 1299.5 mA·h·g⁻¹ after 400 cycles at 0.5 A·g⁻¹. Such superior electrochemical performances indicate that this work may provide an effective method for the design and synthesis of other metal oxide/N-doped graphene electrode materials.

Keywords Co₃O₄ graphene lithium-ion battery anode

Corresponding Author(s): Xueqian ZHANG,Guangwu WEN

Online First Date: 10 May 2021 Issue Date: 08 June 2021

Cite this article:

Yishan WANG,Xueqian ZHANG,Fanpeng MENG, et al. Stabilizing Co₃O₄ nanorods/N-doped graphene as advanced anode for lithium-ion batteries[J]. Front. Mater. Sci., 2021, 15(2): 216-226.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/foms/EN/10.1007/s11706-021-0552-x
https://academic.hep.com.cn/foms/EN/Y2021/V15/I2/216

Fig.1 Scheme 1 Schematic representation of the synthesis process of Co₃O₄/NG.

Fig.2 (a) XRD patterns, (b) TGA curves, (c) Raman spectra and (d) enlarged Raman spectra of Co₃O₄ and Co₃O₄/NG.

Fig.3 XPS results of the Co₃O₄/NG composite: (a) survey; (b) C 1s; (c) Co 2p; (d) O 1s; (e) N 1s.

Fig.4 SEM images of (a)(b)(c) Co₃O₄ and (d)(e)(f) Co₃O₄/NG.

Fig.5 (a)(b) TEM and (c)(d) HRTEM images of Co₃O₄/NG.

Fig.6 (a) CV curves of Co₃O₄/NG at 0.2 mV·s⁻¹. (b) Initial discharge/charge profiles, (c) cycling performances at 0.1 A·g⁻¹, (d) rate capabilities, (e) cycling performances at 0.5 A·g⁻¹, (f) EIS spectra, and (g) relationship between Z′ and ω^−1/2 of Co₃O₄ and Co₃O₄/NG electrodes.

Tab.1 Comparison of Co₃O₄-based electrodes reported in recent years [18,20,24–30]

Fig.7 (a) CV curves from 0.2 to 1.0 mV·s⁻¹, (b) lgi versus lgv curves for characteristic peaks, (c) capacitive contribution (shadow portion) at 0.8 mV·s⁻¹, and (d) capacitive contributions at different scan rates of Co₃O₄/NG.

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