Facile Synthesis of Hexagonal NiCo2O4 Nanoplates as High-Performance Anode Material for Li-Ion Batteries

Abstract

Ternary spinal NiCo<inf>2</inf>O<inf>4</inf> nanostructure holds great promise as high-performance anode material for next generation Li-ion batteries because of its higher electrical conductivity and electrochemical activity. In this work, two-dimensional hexagonal NiCo<inf>2</inf>O<inf>4</inf> nanoplates are synthesized by a simple and cost-effective template-free method through co-precipitation decomposition route using sodium hydroxide as the precipitant followed by annealing in air at 400°C for 2 h. Various characterization methods prove that hexagonal NiCo<inf>2</inf>O<inf>4</inf> nanoplates are successfully synthesized by this process and have high amount of mesopores on its surface. The electrochemical study of these hexagonal NiCo<inf>2</inf>O<inf>4</inf> nanoplates as Li-ion battery anode shows that the highly mesoporous nanoplate morphology plays an important role in cycling stability and rate capability. As a result, the hexagonal NiCo<inf>2</inf>O<inf>4</inf> exhibits a high reversible charge capacity of 918 mAh/g at a current density of 60 mA/g (0.06 C) with excellent capacity retention of 92% up to 50 charge-discharge cycles. © 2015 Korean Chemical Society & Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.