Template-assisted synthesis of CuO hollow nanotubes constructed by ultrathin nanosheets for lithium-ion battery applications

Herein, Cu nanowires are utilized as a self-sacrificial template to synthesize CuO hollow nanotubes (HTs) by a facile wet chemical method. The HTs with a diameter 549 ± 83.6 nm and rough surface, are constructed by well-distributed curved ultrathin nanosheets. When employed as an anode electrode in Li-ion batteries, the resulting CuO HTs exhibited a high specific capacity of 736 mAh g⁻¹, superior rate performance and high cyclic performance. The excellent electrochemical performance of CuO HTs can be attributed to the high specific surface area, abundant unimpeded diffusion paths and high electron transfer rate due to the unique two-dimensional nanosheets structure and hollow structure. Moreover, the hollow structure provides enough space to accommodate volumetric changes and structural strain during the charge/discharge process, resulting in excellent cyclic stability. The current report presents a novel strategy to develop high-performance anodes for next-generation Li-ion batteries.