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

Abstract

Ternary spinal NiCo2O4 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 NiCo2O4 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 NiCo2O4 nanoplates are successfully synthesized by this process and have high amount of mesopores on its surface. The electrochemical study of these hexagonal NiCo2O4 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 NiCo2O4 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.