Synthesis of flower-like nickel oxide/nickel silicate nanocomposites and their enhanced electrochemical performance as anode materials for lithium batteries

Abstract

The nickel oxide/nickel silicate (NiO/NiSiO) nanoflowers with a hierarchical nanostructure have been successfully fabricated via a simple solvothermal method followed by a simple annealing. The as-obtained NiO/NiSiO nanoflowers were composed of many interconnected thin nanosheets with a thickness of ca.15nm. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy were used to characterize the samples. As anode materials for lithium batteries, the flowerlike NiO/NiSiO nanocomposites exhibited higher lithium storage capacity and better cycling performance than those of the NiSiO nanoflowers. The improved electrochemical performance may be attributed to the more stable layered structure of NiSiO and the introduction of NiO.