Co₃O₄/SnO₂ Hybrid Nanorods as High-Capacity Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries

With the surging demand for high-performance energy storage devices, enhancing the energy density and charge-discharge efficiency of lithium-ion batteries has become an urgent need. Co₃O₄, with a high theoretical specific capacity of 890 mAh g⁻¹, is regarded as a promising anode candidate. In this work, rod-like hybrid Co₃O₄/SnO₂ composites were successfully prepared via the pyrolysis of cobalt-tin ethylene glycolate precursor. Notably, when the Co/Sn molar ratio is tuned to 3.8:1, the product evolves into nanorods. Lithium-ion batteries using Co_3.8Sn₁ as the anode deliver an initial specific capacity of 1588.9 mAh g⁻¹, and retain a reversible capacity of 427.9 mAh g⁻¹ after 500 cycles at 2 A g⁻¹, demonstrating that Sn-doping-induced optimization of morphology and conductivity effectively enhances electrochemical performance.