Needle-like cobalt phosphide arrays grown on carbon fiber cloth as a binder-free electrode with enhanced lithium storage performance

Cobalt phosphide (CoP) is a promising anode candidate for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to its high specific capacity and low working potential. However, the poor cycling stability and rate performance, caused by low electrical conductivity and huge volume variation, impede the further practical application of CoP anode materials. Herein, we report an integrated binder-free electrode featuring needle-like CoP arrays grown on carbon fiber cloth (CC) for efficient lithium storage. The as-prepared CoP/CC electrode integrates the advantages of 1D needle-like CoP arrays for efficient electrolyte wettability and fast charge transportation, and 3D CC substrate for superior mechanical stability, flexibility and high conductivity. As a result, the CoP/CC electrode delivers an initial specific capacity of 1283 mAh/g and initial Coulombic effeciencies of 85.4%, which are much higher than that of conventional CoP electrode. Notably, the CoP/CC electrode shows outstanding cycling performance up to 400 cycles at 0.5 A/cm² and excellent rate performance with a discharge capacity of 549 mAh/g even at 5 A/cm². This work demonstrates the great potential of integrated CoP/CC hybrid as efficient bind-free and freestanding electrode for LIBs and future flexible electronic devices.