Electrochemical Performances of Bio-inspired CoFe2O4 as Anode Material for Li-Ion Batteries (LIBs)

Li-ion batteries, the most efficient energy storage system are mainly composed of four components, including, the cathode, the anode, the electrolyte and the separator assembled in a sandwich structural cell. Their performances highly depend on the chemical composition, the crystal structure and the morphology of the electrode materials. To satisfy the ever-growing requirements of renewable and grid storage applications, looking for new efficient and cost-effective electrodes is required.
As one of the pivotal components of LIBs, many research groups have been working on the development of new anode materials. In this perspective, our conducted work aims to the elaboration of metal oxides as a high capacity anode material for LIBs.
CoFe2O4 spherical-like nanoparticles with a specific surface area of 53.16 m2g-1 were prepared by a bio-inspired synthesis method. Evaluated as anode material for LIBs, the prepared electrode displays remarkable cycling performance and good rate capability (976 mAh g-1 at 178 mA g-1 and 570 mAh g-1 at 1793 mA g-1). The lithiation/delithiation mechanism has been investigated via Ex-situ Mössbauer spectroscopy and In-Situ XRD techniques.