Dandelion-shaped cobalt and nickel phosphide hybrids for high performance electrochemical energy storage

Abstract

A novel dandelion-like CoP microspheres are prepared on carbon cloth via a hydrothermal method combined with a subsequent phosphatization treatment. The as-obtained CoP display a specific discharge capacity of 409.1 C/g at 1 A/g, which retains 78.0% after 1000 cycles at 5A/g. Moreover, Ni elements can be easily incorporated to form CoP/NiP hybrids, which not only boosts the specific discharge capacity to 872.6 C/g, ~2.1 times higher than that of bare CoP, but also demonstrates excellent cycle stability (retaining 83.9%@5A/g after 1000 cycles). The enhanced performance is benefited from their unique structure with surface decorations and high utilization of active materials. In addition, the work function difference promotes charge transfer at interfaces which enhances their electrochemical performance. The above results demonstrate that the dandelion-like CoP/NiP hybrids are promising electrode materials for high energy storage.