Mesoporous cobalt oxide for largely improved lithium storage properties

We report the microstructure, application for lithium-ion batteries of mesoporous Co3O4 prepared by modified KIT-6 template method. The sample was characterized by XRD, TEM, HRTEM and nitrogen adsorption. Their electrochemical behaviors as electrode reactants for lithium ion batteries were evaluated by cyclic voltammograms and static charge–discharge. A direct comparison of electrochemical behaviors between mesoporous nanostructure and bulk reflects interesting “nanostructure effect”, which is reasonably discussed in terms of how the 3D nanostructures of Co3O4 materials function in tuning their electrochemistry. The results demonstrate that further improvement of electrochemical performance in transition metal-oxide-based anode materials can be realized via the design of multiporous nanostructured materials.