Preparation of octahedral CuO micro/nanocrystals and electrochemical performance as anode for lithium-ion battery

•Octahedral cupric oxides with hollow structure were prepared.•No hard template was used in the preparation of hollow cupric oxides.•The cupric oxides show good reversible capacity. Herein we report that three octahedral CuO samples with hollow or solid structure are successfully prepared by firstly preparation of Cu2O products using a chemical reduction method, then by calcination in a muffle furnace at 300°C for 3h in air atmosphere. The obtained CuO samples serve as a good model system for the study as anodes for lithium ion batteries. All the three CuO samples have high discharge specific capacity and good cycling stability from the 2nd cycling to the 50th cycling. Octahedral CuO hollow crystals with 400nm in size have the highest reversible capacity and the smallest resistance. So their electrochemical performances are partly related to their morphologies. The results suggest that the as-prepared CuO samples, especially the 400nm hollow octahedral CuO crystals could be a promising material for the anode of lithium-ion battery.