Co₃O₄ Nanosheets with In-Plane Pores and Highly Active {112} Exposed Facets for High Performance Lithium Storage

Recently, two-dimensional transition metal oxide nanomaterials have been extensively investigated as promising candidates for the lithium-ion battery anode materials due to their elastic volume change, efficient ion/electrical pathways, and additional interfacial lithium storage sites. Herein, we report a simple wet-chemical method followed by thermal treatment to synthesize Co₃O₄ nanosheets with the in-plane pores. The as-prepared nanosheets are found to selectively expose the highly active {112} facets as the dominant surfaces. When fabricated into the anode configuration, a specific capacity of 1717 mA h g^-1 can be reliably retained after 100 cycles at a current density of 200 mA g^-1. While increasing the current density to 1 A g^-1 and prolonging the cycle life to 400 cycles, the nanosheets can still deliver a capacity of 1090 mA h g^-1 with a Coulombic efficiency of 99.5%. This excellent electrochemical performance can be attributed to the unique morphological structures of our porous nanosheets for the shortened lithium ion diffusion pathway, alleviated volume expansion, and enhanced active sites, indicating the technological potency of the nanosheets for high-performance lithium storage. (Graph Presented).