Facile synthesis of CuO nanorod for lithium storage application

A CuO nanostructure was prepared on copper plate by a simple electrochemical etching and a subsequent heat treatment instead of the commonly used solution-immersion method. The architecture was used as anode of lithium ion batteries without any conductive binder. Excellent rate capability and improved cyclability were obtained with a specific capacity of 740 mAh/g upto 50 cycles at a rate of 100 mA/g. The improved performance can be attributed to the quasi-1-dimensional nanostructure prepared directly on the current-collecting copper plate, which offers good strain accommodation, short electron/lithium ion transport path and excellent electrical contact between active material and current-collector. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.