Effect of Initial Reactants and Reaction Temperature on Molten Salt Synthesis of CuCo2O4 and Its Sustainable Energy Storage Properties

We have prepared CuCo2O4 using 0.5 M NaNO3 and 0.5 M LiNO3 molten salts at different temperatures (410 and 610 °C) in the air. This was later used as an anode material for LIBs. The morphology, structure, and electrochemical properties of the products were observed using various techniques such as scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface and density method, cyclic voltammetry, and galvanostatic cycling tests. The XRD patterns showed a minor CuO phase in addition to the major CuCo2O4 phase in most of the reactant and salt combination. CuCo2O4 prepared using copper sulfate and cobalt sulfate at 610 °C and copper sulfate and cobalt acetate at 410 °C showed the best performance with capacities of 848 mAh g–1 and 882 mAh g–1 and capacity retentions of 93% and 94%, respectively.