Designed synthesis of transition metal/oxide hierarchical peapods array with the superior lithium storage performance

In this report, a novel hierarchical peapoded array with Co3O4 nanoparticles encapsulated in graphitized carbon fiber is introduced for the first time. The unique peapoded structure is suitable for the excellent anode in LIBs and demonstrates enhanced rate capability, cyclability and prolonged lifespan, e.g. the specific capacity can reach up to 1150 mAh/g. All the enhanced electrochemical performance is reasonably derived from the peapod-like and aligned conformation. Furthermore, due to the specialty of the structure and the versatility of Co3O4, the composite will find more applications in specific catalysis, biomedicine, electronics, optoelectronic engineering and gas sensing. The fabrication strategy developed here is also a rational and universal approach towards peapod-like architecture and has significantly widened the specific functional material domain we created before. In our design, more peapod-like aligned samples with various nanoparticles, e.g. oxides, phosphides, even nitrides, encapsulated in graphitized carbon fibers, have been lifted on the research agenda and the results will be presented soon.