Synthesis of polyaniline shell on nickel oxide nanoflake arrays for enhanced lithium ion storage

Abstract

Developing conducting polymer/oxide composites are of great importance to construct advanced electrochemical devices. In this work, we report a successive electrodeposition methods to fabricate polyaniline (PANI) on nickel oxide (NiO) nanoflake forming composite core-shell arrays. A thin layer of PANI of ∼10nm is successfully coated on the surface of NiO nanoflake core. High porosity and enhanced conductivity are obtained in this composite electrode. As anode materials for lithium ion batteries, the NiO/PANI core-shell arrays exhibit weaker polarization and better cycling performance as compared to the bare NiO film. The second discharge capacity of NiO/PANI composite arrays is about 780mAhg−1 at 0.1Ag−1, higher than that of the bare NiO film (679mAhg−1). The improvements of the electrochemical properties are attributed to the PANI, which forms a uniform conductive network leading to improved electrochemical performance.