Environmental-Friendly and Facile Synthesis of Co3O4 Nanowires and Their Promising Application with Graphene in Lithium-Ion Batteries

Graphene Oxide-Wrapped Porous Hollow Co3O4 Microspheres with Enhanced Lithium Storage Performance

Porous hollow Co₃O₄ microspheres wrapped with graphene oxide were synthesized by a step solvothermal method and subsequent heat treatment. Benefiting from the design of special porous hollow microspheres, the effective specific surface area was greatly increased, the sufficient contact between the porous hollow Co₃O₄ microspheres and electrolyte was achieved, and then a charge specific capacity of 888.59 mA h g^-1 was gained. Meanwhile, partial stress from the charging/discharging process was greatly relieved due to the abundant pores and hollow structure, excellent cycling stability was realized, and the charge specific capacity of the 1000th cycle was 465.75 mA h g^-1 at 5 C (1 C = 890 mA g^-1). In addition, the conductivity of Co₃O₄ microspheres was effectively improved due to the tight package of graphene oxide to Co₃O₄ microspheres, and superior rate performance was attained (280.99 mA h g^-1 at 10 C).

Synthesis and Investigation of CuGeO3 Nanowires as Anode Materials for Advanced Sodium-Ion Batteries

Germanium is considered as a potential anode material for sodium-ion batteries due to its fascinating theoretical specific capacity. However, its poor cyclability resulted from the sluggish kinetics and large volume change during repeated charge/discharge poses major threats for its further development. One solution is using its ternary compound as an alternative to improve the cycling stability. Here, high-purity CuGeO₃ nanowires were prepared via a facile hydrothermal method, and their sodium storage performances were firstly explored. The as-obtained CuGeO₃ delivered an initial charge capacity of 306.7 mAh g^-1 along with favorable cycling performance, displaying great promise as a potential anode material for sodium ion batteries.