Salt–template assisted fabrication of Co3O4 nanodots anchored into 2D N–doped carbon nanosheets as an advanced anode for lithium–ion batteries

The design and exploitation of advanced transition metal oxides (TMO)/carbon hybrid anodes remain significant but challenging for the evolution of lithium–ion batteries (LIBs). In this work, Co ₃O ₄ nanodots anchored into 2D N-doped carbon nanosheets (Co ₃O ₄ NDs/NCN) hybrid is successfully fabricated by a facile salt-template assisted pyrolysis strategy using glucose, Co(NO ₃) ₂·6H ₂O and NaCl salt template as reaction precursors. The morphology, structure and composition of the resultant Co ₃O ₄ NDs/NCN hybrid are systematically investigated, and the effect of salt template on the preparation of products is also deeply explored. It is surprisingly found that the introduction of NaCl template promotes the formation of Co ₃O ₄, which is different from what has been reported previously. In addition, the added NaCl template can be used to regulate the microstructure of Co ₃O ₄ NDs/NCN hybrid, which displays unique micromorphology (Co ₃O ₄ NDs anchored into 2D NCN), successful N doping in carbon matrix, Co-N-C bond between two components and much increased specific surface area. As a result, this hybrid shows excellent lithium storage performance when used as the anode for LIBs, which can be comparable to those previously reported Co ₃O ₄/C hybrid anodes. Clearly, this work offers a good reference for the construction of low-cost and high-performance TMO/carbon LIBs anodes.