Enhanced electrochemical performances of CuCrO2–CNTs nanocomposites anodes by in-situ hydrothermal synthesis for lithium ion batteries

Abstract

The CuCrO2–carbon nanotubes (CNTs) nanocomposites synthesized by the in-situ hydrothermal method exhibit excellent specific capacity retention and cyclic performances. Due to the poor conductivity and large volume variation of CuCrO2, its discharge capacity only remains 304mAhg–1 (0.2C) after 140 cycles. However, the electrochemical performances of CuCrO2 anodes are improved remarkably by adding 5–20wt% CNTs. The CuCrO2–CNTs composite anodes maintain a specific capacity of 742mAhg−1 after 60 cycles (0.2C) when the CNTs proportion is over 10wt%. Even at 1C charge/discharge rates, they still exhibit high capacity retention of 530mAhg−1 after 40 cycles. The SEM micrographs show that CNTs are dispersed well within the CuCrO2 matrix to form a 3D network. Such a network structure provides good electrical conductivity and restrains the volume variations during the cycling processes, which collaboratively improve the discharge specific capacity and cycling performance.