Pillow-shaped porous CuO as anode material for lithium-ion batteries

Pillow-shaped porous cupric oxide (CuO) was prepared by a template-free method. Highly crystallized CuC2O4 precursor with micron-size in high dispersivity was prepared through a hydrothermal method first. Thermal treatment was carried out with the obtained precursor to produce porous cupric oxide. Thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and galvanostatic cell cycling were employed to characterize the structure and electrochemical performance of the porous cupric oxide. The porous CuO powder exhibited high average coulombic efficiency (98.3%) and capacity retention (83.3% of the discharge capacity of the second cycle after 50 cycles) at a current rate of 0.1 C.