Designed synthesis of hollow Co3O4 nanoparticles encapsulated in a thin carbon nanosheet array for high and reversible lithium storage

The design and fabrication of novel composite nano-architectures is crucial for their applications in energy storage devices such as lithium ion batteries (LIBs). Herein, a thin carbon nanosheet array with encapsulated hollow Co3O4 nanoparticles is successfully fabricated on 3D Ni foam by using electrodeposited Co(OH)(2) nanosheets as templates and followed by a two step annealing process. When used as an anode material in LIBs, the hollow Co3O4/carbon nanosheet composite displays an excellent performance with a high reversible capacity, excellent cycling stability and rate capability. This work is helpful for the design of an advanced electrode for LIBs, supercapacitors, electrochemical sensors, etc.