Controllable synthesis Co3O4 nanorods and nanobelts and their excellent lithium storage performance

•Co3O4 nanorods and nanobelts are fabricated by a template-free hydrothermal method.•The morphologies of Co3O4 can be easily controlled by hydrothermal reaction time.•Lithium-ion battery performance of nanobelts is much higher than that of nanorods.

Co3O4 nanorods and nanobelts can be synthesized controllably by a template-free hydrothermal method. Enhanced lithium-ion battery performances are obtained from Co3O4 nanorods and nanobelts. After 50 cycles, the reversible capacity is up to 1124 and 1260 mAh g−1 at C/20 rate (20 h per half cycle), respectively, and the cyclability are excellent. Lithium-ion battery performance of nanobelts is much higher than that of nanorods. Such a behavior is attributed to more efficient Li insertion, less volume change and no agglomeration of nanobelts. The present results open a way for fabrication of porous 1D nanostructures and imply that porous 1D nanostructures are good candidates for high performance lithium-ion battery anodes.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide