Construction of rGO-Encapsulated Co₃ O₄ -CoFe₂ O₄ Composites with a Double-Buffer Structure for High-Performance...

Transition metal oxides (TMOs) are promising anode materials for next-generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Nevertheless, their poor electronic and ionic conductivity as well as huge volume change leads to low capacity release and rapid capacity decay. Herein, a reduced graphene oxide (rGO)-encapsulated TMOs strategy is developed to address the above problems. The Co₃ O₄ -CoFe₂ O₄ @rGO composites with rGO sheets-encapsulated Co₃ O₄ -CoFe₂ O₄ microcubes are successfully constructed through a simple metal-organic frameworks precursor route, in which Co[Fe(CN)₅ NO] microcubes are in situ coated by graphene oxide sheets, followed by a two-step calcination process. As anode material of LIBs, Co₃ O₄ -CoFe₂ O₄ @rGO exhibits remarkable reversible capacity (1393 mAh g^-1 at 0.2 A g^-1 after 300 cycles), outstanding long-term cycling stability (701 mAh g^-1 at 2.0 A g^-1 after 500 cycles), and excellent rate capability (420 mAh g^-1 at 4.0 A g^-1 ). The superior lithium storage performance can be attributed to the unique double-buffer structure, in which the outer flexible rGO shells can prevent the structure collapse of the electrode and improve its conductivity, while the hierarchical porous cores of Co₃ O₄ -CoFe₂ O₄ microcubes can buffer the volume expansion. This work provides a general and straightforward strategy for the construction of novel rGO-encapsulated bimetal oxides for energy storage and conversion application.