Surfactant-Mediated Synthesis of Novel Mesoporous Hollow CuO Nanotubes as an Anode Material for Lithium-Ion Battery Application

In this work, the hollow mesoporous CuO nanotubes are synthesized using a surfactant-assisted soft template approach. It is believed that the surfactant used during the synthesis provides a skeleton for the rearrangement of nanoparticles, resulting in the formation of hollow nanotubes. Furthermore, the sample becomes mesoporous during the calcination at 500 degrees C due to the removal of the surfactant template. On the other hand, the porous nanostructure efficiently improves the reaction kinetics of the electrode material, which offers excellent electrochemical performance. The obtained hollow mesoporous CuO nanotube electrode manifests high Li-ion storage such as similar to 253 mAh g(-1) at 1 C and 118 mAh g(-1) at 3 C after 150 cycles. It is significant to highlight that the current synthesis process is straightforward, affordable, time-efficient and environment friendly as compared to tedious physical approaches. In addition, the proposed strategy in this work also demonstrates a window for the development of new advanced nanomaterials for post-lithium-ion battery applications.

Automated summary

In this work, hollow mesoporous CuO nanotubes were successfully synthesized using a surfactant-assisted soft template approach. The surfactant provides a skeleton for nanoparticle rearrangement, leading to the formation of hollow nanotubes. The calcination process removes the surfactant and creates a mesoporous structure, improving the reaction kinetics and electrochemical performance of the electrode material. The synthesized CuO nanotube electrode exhibits high Li-ion storage capacity, making it a promising material for post-lithium-ion battery applications.