Facile synthesis and lithium storage performance of hollow CuO microspheres

Abstract Hierarchical CuO hollow microspheres (2–3 μm) have been successfully prepared via a facile hydrothermal process on a large scale by using cupric acetate as a reagent in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone. The hollow sphere composed by many nanorods with wall thickness of 400 nm. The surface area of the hollow CuO microspheres measured by a BET-nitrogen adsorption method is 25.7 m 2 /g. It is also found that such unique hierarchical architecture shows excellent electrochemical performance for lithium ion batteries.