To address the issues of low theoretical specific capacity, poor fast?charging performance, and insufficient safety in commercial graphite anode materials, a new type of self?supporting composite electrode was constructed, which achieved an improvement in the comprehensive electrochemical performance of lithium?ion batteries. Using carbon cloth (CC) as a flexible substrate, a Co3O4/ZnO heterojunction structure was grown in situ on its surface via the hydrothermal method, followed by heat treatment, successfully preparing a self?supporting Co3O4@ZnO//CC anode material. Microstructural and compositional analyses were conducted using characterization techniques such as XRD, SEM, TEM, and XPS, while electrochemical tests were employed to evaluate its lithium storage performance. Results demonstrated that the three?dimensional porous nanosheet array of Co3O4@ZnO effectively mitigates volume changes and facilitates electron transport. The Co3O4@ZnO//CC electrode exhibited an initial discharge and charge specific capacity of 3.96 and 3.28 mA?h/cm2 at 2.00 mA/cm2 current density, respectively, with a coulombic efficiency of 82.83% in the first cycle and a capacity retention rate of 56.40% after 100 cycles. Both its cycling stability and rate performance outperformed those of Co3O4//CC and ZnO//CC electrodes.
