Surfactant – Controlled synthesis of polygonal-stacked Cu2O for morphology effect on lithium-ion battery anode performance

Recently, lithium‐ion batteries have reached the limit of low reversible capacity that is deficient for uses in emerging electric devices for mobiles and electric vehicles (EVs). In this work, we have prepared polygonal-stacked Cu2O (PCO) through modified Benedict's reaction by simply controlling concentrations of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). The synthesized PCO materials featuring sharp tip structure showed enhanced capacity than round edge structured PCO. Surface area and structural difference could play critical roles in the electrochemical performances of the PCO materials. Among three different structured Cu2O materials, sharp tip shaped PCO electrode exhibited a high discharge capacity of ca. 402 mAh/g at the 2nd cycle and its discharge capacity appeared to gradually increase to ca. 506 mAh/g up to the 100th cycle. The diffusion coefficient of sharp tip shaped PCO was also larger than PCO with round-structured morphology. The simple synthesis strategy for the resulting unique electrode morphology can allow to understand morphology effects on anode materials for lithium-ion batteries.