Co₃O₄/Carbon Aerogel Hybrids as Anode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries with Enhanced Electrochemical Properties

A facile hydrothermal and sol-gel polymerization route was developed for large-scale fabrication of well-designed Co3O4 nanoparticles anchored carbon aerogel (CA) architecture hybrids as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries with improved electrochemical properties. The three-dimensional (3D) mesoporous Co3O4/CA hierarchical hybrids display an improved lithium storage performance and cycling stability, because of the intimate integration and strong synergistic effects between the Co3O4 nanoparticles and CA matrices. Such an interconnected Co3O4/CA hierarchical hybrid can effectively utilize the good conductivity, large surface area, 3D interconnected mesoporous structure, mechanical flexibility, chemical stability, and the short length of Li-ion transport of the CA matrix. The incorporation of Co3O4 nanoparticles into the interconnected CA matrix effectively reduces the number of active sites of Co3O4/CA hybrids, thus greatly increasing the reversible specific capacity and the initial Coulombic efficiency of the hybrids. The Co3O4/CA hybrid material displays the best lithium storage performance and good cycling stability as the Co3O4 loading content is up to 25 wt %, retains a Coulombic efficiency of 99.5% and a specific discharge capacity of 779 mAh g(-1) after 50 cycles, 10.1 and 1.6 times larger than the specific discharge capacity of 73 mAh g(-1) and 478 mAh g(-1) for Co3O4 and CA samples, respectively. The hierarchical hybrid nanostructures with enhanced electrochemical activities using a CA matrix framework can find potential applications in the related conversion reaction electrodes.