Enhanced lithium storage performance guided by intricate-cavity hollow cobalt phosphide.

[Display omitted] • A novel concept of hierarchical-dimensional material strategy for efficient lithium storage. • High-rate Li-ion battery application and the relationship between structural hierarchy and performances. • Facile methodology for the construction of hierarchical-dimensional materials. The pulverization and aggregation of metal-based anode materials caused by considerable volume expansion during repeated lithiation/de-lithiation lead to poor lithium storage performance for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Herein, intricate-cavity hollow cobalt phosphide (S-CoP), which is fabricated by the weave of one-dimension (1D) hollow nanorods and further self-assemble of the weaved two-dimension (2D) substructures, is exploited as anode material to accommodate high-performance lithium storage. The self-assembled hierarchical-dimensional architecture, together with the intricate void structure of the nanorods, construct highly accessible surfaces which facilitate electrolyte wetting, diffusion distance decreasing, and thus rapid kinetics during lithium storage. Meanwhile, the developed pore volumes gifts flexible space to alleviate the huge volume change, delivering longer service life for LIBs. As a result, the LIBs based on the designed CoP afford a favorable rate behavior and stable reversible cycling performance. This work provides fresh insights in the design and construction of advanced anode materials for LIBs, which is hopeful to be also enlightening for other high-performance energy systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]