Design and synthesis of NiCo-NiCoO2@C composites with improved lithium storage performance as the anode materials

Aoping Guo; Junkai Zhao; Kaimeng Yang; Mingzhu Xie; Zhaolong Wang; Xiaojing Yang

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2022.10.158

Design and synthesis of NiCo-NiCoO₂@C composites with improved lithium storage performance as the anode materials

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2023 Feb;631(Pt A):112-121. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2022.10.158. Epub 2022 Nov 4.

Authors

Aoping Guo¹, Junkai Zhao¹, Kaimeng Yang¹, Mingzhu Xie², Zhaolong Wang², Xiaojing Yang³

Affiliations

¹ Beijing Key Laboratory of Energy Conversion and Storage Materials, College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China.
² Interdisciplinary Research Center of Low-carbon Technology and Equipment, College of Mechanical and Vehicle Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410082, PR China.
³ Beijing Key Laboratory of Energy Conversion and Storage Materials, College of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, PR China. Electronic address: yang.xiaojing@bnu.edu.cn.

PMID: 36370494
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2022.10.158

Abstract

The rapid capacity decay severely limits the commercial applications of metal oxide-based electrodes. Exploring innovative materials with enhanced lithium storage performance is urgent and challenging. Herein, we propose a strategy for the synthesis of NiCo-NiCoO₂@C composites using layered double hydroxide (LDH) precursors. When used as the anode materials, the composites deliver enhanced capacity throughout the continuous charge-discharge process. In our design, the electrochemically active NiCoO₂ nanoparticles pulverize the NiCo phases via a conversion reaction. The NiCo phases can increase capacity by reacting with the Li₂O yielded from the conversion of NiCoO₂ and participating in the reversible transformation of solid-electrolyte interface (SEI) films, thus ensuring fast charge transfer. Voids that appear with the consumption of NiCo phases can provide abundant channels for Li⁺ transportation. Carbon matrices can effectively alleviate the stress generated during repeated cycles of expansion and shrinkage. Benefiting from these features, NiCo-NiCoO₂@C anode delivers a highly enhanced reversible capacity of 961.6 mAh g^-1 after 300 cycles at 200 mA g^-1. This LDH-based strategy may be extended to the design and synthesis of various enhanced anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs).

Keywords: Carbon; Enhanced capacity; Layered double hydroxide precursors; Lithium-ion batteries; Metal oxides; NiCoO(2).