Morphology Engineering of Self-Assembled Nanostructured CuCo₂O₄ Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries

The electrochemical kinetics and output capacity of active electrode materials are significantly influenced by their surface structure. Herein, the template-free morphological evolution of CuCo₂O₄ is reported, which is achieved by controlling the nucleation and growth rate during the hydrothermal process and evaluating its anode performance. The charge-transfer resistance and specific surface area of the fabricated CuCo₂O₄ anode films are influenced by the viscosity of the solvent used. The optimized mesoporous nanosheet anode exhibits a high specific discharge capacity (1547 mAh g^–1) at 0.1 A g^–1 and an excellent restoring capability (≈91%); it retains 88% of the initial capacity with a coulombic efficiency of ≈99% even after 250 discharge–charge cycles. The superior lithium-ion energy storage performance of this anode is due to its electrochemically favorable porous 2D morphology with large Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) specific surface area and pore volume, resulting in enhanced Li⁺ storage and intercalation property.