Highly uniform platanus fruit-like CuCo₂S₄ microspheres as an electrode material for high performance lithium-ion...

Platanus fruit-like CuCo₂S₄ microspheres were fabricated by using a facile hydrothermal method followed by a sulfidation process. As a lithium storage material, they deliver an outstanding initial specific capacity of 1119.3 mA h g^-1 at 0.05 A g^-1 and a high reversibility of 954 mA h g^-1 over 200 cycles even at 1 A g^-1. In addition, when applied in supercapacitors they display a superb specific capacitance of 824 F g^-1 at 1 A g^-1, even over 10 000 cycles and they can also maintain 75% retention at 5 A g^-1 and exhibit good reversibility. Furthermore, an advanced asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) exhibits an advantageous energy density of 36.67 W h kg^-1 when the power density increases up to 750 W kg^-1. Additionally, the assembled device can easily light a 1.5 V bulb for several minutes. The excellent performance of CuCo₂S₄ is due to the bimetallic synergistic effect and the unique platanus fruit-like microsphere architecture, which can limit the restacking of the structure and provide suitable voids. This excellent performance confirms that platanus fruit-like CuCo₂S₄ microspheres are a promising electrode material for energy storge. This work will provide a new strategy to prepare high-performance bimetallic sulfide anode materials by a facile method.