Co3O4 Nanosheets with In-Plane Pores and Highly Active {112} Exposed Facets for High Performance Lithium Storage

Abstract

Recently, two-dimensional transition metal oxide nanomaterials have been extensively investigated as promising candidates for the lithium-ion battery anode materials due to their elastic volume change, efficient ion/electrical pathways, and additional interfacial lithium storage sites. Herein, we report a simple wet-chemical method followed by thermal treatment to synthesize Co3O4 nanosheets with the in-plane pores. The as-prepared nanosheets are found to selectively expose the highly active {112} facets as the dominant surfaces. When fabricated into the anode configuration, a specific capacity of 1717 mA h g–1 can be reliably retained after 100 cycles at a current density of 200 mA g–1. While increasing the current density to 1 A g–1 and prolonging the cycle life to 400 cycles, the nanosheets can still deliver a capacity of 1090 mA h g–1 with a Coulombic efficiency of 99.5%. This excellent electrochemical performance can be attributed to the unique morphological structures of our porous nanosheets for th...