Mesoporous flower-like Co sub(3)O sub(4)/C nanosheet composites and their performance evaluation as anodes for lithium ion batteries

Well-designed nanostructures have been regarded as keys for exploring new electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries. In this work, we reported a facile approach to prepare a novel flower-like clusters of Co sub(3)O sub(4)/C nanosheets via in situ pyrolysis of cheap inorganic-organic layered precursors. The as-prepared sample exhibits a two-dimensional architecture from well-graphitized carbon nanosheets embedded or anchored homogeneously by numerous Co sub(3)O sub(4) nanoparticles (5-8 nm). When used as an anode material, the composite displays a high reversible capacity (1082 mAh g super(-1) at 100 mA g super(-1)), superior rate capability (531 mAh g super(-1) at 2000 mA g super(-1)) and excellent cycling stability. More importantly, a very interesting and amazing microstructural evolution from the lamellar precursors to nanosheets has been unveiled for the first time, which not only manifests the rich in structural variation of inorganic-organic hybrids in pyrolysis process, but also opens up new perspectives on the rational design and controllable fabrication of novel functional materials by utilizing such lamellar hybrids.