Microwave-assisted hydrothermal synthesis of sphere-like C/CuO and CuO nanocrystals and improved performance as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries

• Nano-sized CuO powder synthesized by microwave hydrothermal in several minutes.
• The size and distribution of CuO was influenced by reaction conditions.
• CuO nanocrystals involved carbon spheres formation microwave process.
• Size and distribution of CuO nanocrystals influenced electrochemical performance.

In this paper, we report the sphere-like C/CuO and CuO nanocrystals that have been fast prepared by the microwave-assisted hydrothermal method in the presence of green additive d-glucose. The rapid formation mechanism of the C/CuO and CuO nanocrystals and how the d-glucose worked in the microwave-assisted hydrothermal system were discussed in details. The crystal phase, morphology and electrochemical performance were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM) and electrochemical testing. The XRD patterns indicated that the CuO nanocrystals are pure with monoclinic structure and TEM images showed that the size of the samples could be tunable by adjusting the ratio of d-glucose and metal salt. Finally, a possible growth mechanism for the C/CuO spheres and CuO nanocrystals was proposed and discussed. The electrochemical performance of the products may be influenced by the size and uniformity of the nanocrystals.

The size of CuO nanocrystals decreased with the ratio of glucose and Cu2 +. The product obtained at 5:1 exhibited best electrochemical performance because of its relative small size and good uniformity.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide