Preparation of CuO@PPy hybrid nanomaterials as high cyclic stability anode of lithium-ion battery

Over the recent 20 years, numerous researches have focused on the lithium-ion batteries anodes of MOx 3d-metal oxides which have a high specific capacity. For example, the specific capacity of CuO material as an anode is ∼670 mAh g−1. Unfortunately, serious capacity degradation limits their promising applicability. To improve cyclic stability, PPy is covered on CuO surface to prepare CuO@PPy core–shell hybrid materials by chemical polymerisation. Pyrrole amount plays an important role on control the PPy shell thickness. After PPy coating, the lithium-ion battery cycling stability and coulombic efficiency have been improved greatly, and CP-5 sample has the best cyclic stability and coulombic efficiency. The capacity retention of bare CuO is only 27.9% after 200 cycles. By contrast, the capacity retention of CP-5 sample is ∼100%. The flexible conducting polymers shell (PPy) lead to improved cyclic stability. These results give a strategy to solve MOx 3d-metal oxide capacity degradation as Lithium-ion batteries anode.