CobaltHydroxide Carbonate/Reduced Graphene OxideAnodes Enabled by a Confined Step-by-Step Electrochemical CatalyticConversion Process for High Lithium Storage Capacity and ExcellentCyclability with a Low Variance Coefficient

Transition metal carbonates/hydroxides have attracted much attention as appealing anode materials due to their considerable reversible electrochemical catalytic conversion capacity. However, their serious positive or negative trends with cycles caused by the electrochemical catalytic conversion seriously affect their practical applications. Herein, novel one-dimensional cobalt hydroxide carbonate (CHC) nanomaterials are tightly anchored on reduced graphene oxide (RGO) sheets via a facile one-pot hydrothermal synthesis, forming surface-confined domains to further restrict the electrochemical catalytic conversion process. The analysis on the cycled electrodes at varied potentials confirms that the added capacity of CHC arises from the step-by-step reversible reactions of Li2CO3 and LiOH under the electrochemical catalysis of Co metal generated by the conversion reaction of CHC. The reversible reaction of Li2CO3 is followed closely by that of LiOH in the discharge process, while the order is opposite in the ...