Oxygen-Deficient Three-Dimensional Porous Co3O4 Nanowires as an Electrode Material for Water Oxidation and Energy Storage

Energy storage and conversion have become two of the most promising aspects of study, and both fields share a common approach in the search for new and advanced materials to store/convert energy and catalyze electrochemical reactions. Owing to their environmental friendliness, transition-metal oxides have been widely applied as electrode materials for energy systems. However, the application of these metal oxides, in one way or another, tends to suffer from several disadvantages, which urge many researchers to concentrate on improving the performance of the metal oxides so as to meet the demand of different applications. Herein, oxygen vacancies were introduced into 3D Co3O4 nanowires and utilized as suitable electrodes for water oxidation and lithium-ion batteries.