Core-shell N-doped carbon embedded Co3O4 nanoparticles with interconnected and hierarchical porous structure as superior anode materials for lithium-ion batteries

Confining Transition metal oxides (TMOs) nanoparticles in porous carbon is an effective strategy to improve its electrochemical performance. Herein, the large grain size Co-based metal-organic framework (Co-MOF) was used as precursor to synthesize core-shell structure of Co3O4 encapsulated in nitrogen-doped carbon (denoted as L-Co3O4@NC). The in-situ synthesized L-Co3O4@NC exhibits a unique interconnected and hierarchical porous structure. Owing to the unique structu Line14ral merits including fast charge transmission and Li+ diffusion, effectively accommodate the volume change, and promote the access of Li+, the L-Co3O4@NC exhibits excellent lithium storage performance in terms of high specific capacity (1389 mAh g-1 at 0.1A g-1 after 50 cycles), enhanced rate capability (1373, 1182 and 945 mAh g-1 at 0.5, 1 and 2 A g-1, respectively), and cycling stability at large current density (1183 mAh g-1 at 1 A g-1 and 960 mAh g-1 at 2 A g-1 after 200 cycles), which out-performs most of recently reported Co3O4 based electrodes. This work provides a new avenue for developing Co-based anode materials with high performance in energy storage field.