In situ synthesis of Co3O4/Cu electrode and its high performance for lithium-ion batteries

In this paper, we report the growth of Co3O4 micro-rod arrays on Cu substrate by a modified hydrothermal method. The obtained Co3O4/Cu shows that the formed Co3O4 micro-rods on Cu foil are 1-2 μm in diameter and 25 μm in length. When evaluated as electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries, the specific capacity of Co3O4/Cu materials remains over 0.8 mA h mg−1 after 50 cycles at 0.1 C. The superior electrochemical performance of the Co3O4/Cu electrode may be attributed to the close contact of Co3O4 micro-rod arrays on Cu substrate and the extra space between the neighboring arrays, which provide fast pathways and reduce volume expansion.