Electrospinning Synthesis of Porous NiCoO2 Nanofibers as High‐Performance Anode for Lithium‐Ion Batteries

• Published in: Particle & particle systems characterization 2019-07, Vol.36 (7), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Wang, Jinkai, Xie, Sanmu, Li, Li, Li, Zhihui, Asiri, Abdullah M., Marwani, Hadi M., Han, Xiaogang, Wang, Hongkang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anodes; Electrochemical analysis; Electrode materials; Electrospinning; electrospinning–annealing; Energy storage; Lithium; Lithium-ion batteries; Metal oxides; Nanofibers; Nanoparticles; Nanostructure; porous NiCoO2 nanofibers; Storage batteries; Structural hierarchy; superior lithium storage properties; Transition metal oxides; Transition metals
• ISSN: 0934-0866; 1521-4117
• DOI: 10.1002/ppsc.201900109

Nanostructured ternary/mixed transition metal oxides have attracted considerable attentions because of their high‐capacity and high‐rate capability in the electrochemical energy storage applications, but facile large‐scale fabrication with desired nanostructures still remains a great challenge. To overcome this, a facile synthesis of porous NiCoO2 nanofibers composed of interconnected nanoparticles via an electrospinning–annealing strategy is reported herein. When examined as anode materials for lithium‐ion batteries, the as‐prepared porous NiCoO2 nanofibers demonstrate superior lithium storage properties, delivering a high discharge capacity of 945 mA h g−1 after 140 cycles at 100 mA g−1 and a high rate capacity of 523 mA h g−1 at 2000 mA g−1. This excellent electrochemical performance could be ascribed to the novel hierarchical nanoparticle‐nanofiber assembly structure, which can not only buffer the volumetric changes upon lithiation/delithiation processes but also provide enlarged surface sites for lithium storage and facilitate the charge/electrolyte diffusion. Notably, a facile synthetic strategy for fabrication of ternary/mixed metal oxides with 1D nanostructures, which is promising for energy‐related applications, is provided. Porous NiCoO2 nanofibers are synthesized via a facile electrospinning and subsequent annealing strategy, and the 1D nanostructure composed of interconnected nanoparticles demonstrates superior lithium storage properties when examined as anode materials for lithium‐ion batteries. The synthetic strategy can be generally used to design ternary/mixed metal oxides for energy‐related applications.