Green molten salt modification of cobalt oxide for lithium ion battery anode application

The clean and low-cost preparation of advanced materials for green energy storage applications is a critical step towards sustainable development. Here, the rapid modification of CoO in molten salt is proposed as a low-cost approach for the scalable preparation of Co-based oxides with enhanced Li-storage performance. The phase evolution of CoO upon molten salt treatment is investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron microscopy, N2 adsorption-desorption and Raman spectroscopy. The molten salt treatment of CoO under dry and humid Ar atmosphere leads to the formation of dual-phase structured CoO/Co3O4 and Li0.065Co0.935O, respectively. High resolution transmission electron microscopy and fast Fourier transform analysis of samples after Li insertion and extraction process confirm the formation of nanostructured Co-Li2O. The Co phase formed from CoO/Co3O4 and Li0.065Co0.935O is found to have hexagonal close packed (hcp) and face central cubic (fcc) structure, respectively. The Li-storage performances of these materials are correlated to their structural/microstructural characteristics. This article presents a simple, scalable and environmentally-friendly approach for modification of Co-oxide materials for lithium ion battery anode applications.

Automated summary

The study proposes a low-cost approach for the scalable preparation of Co-based oxides by rapid modification of CoO in molten salt, with enhanced Li-storage performance. Characterization techniques such as XRD and electron microscopy were used to investigate the phase evolution of CoO upon molten salt treatment. The materials obtained after molten salt treatment showed excellent Li-storage performance, with the correlation between performance and structural/microstructural characteristics.