In this work we developed a hydrothermal method for synthesizing amorphous Ni-Co hydroxide (NC(OH)) and in the subsequent step crystalline NiCo2O4 (NCO) has been produced using water as the solvent. For nickel-zinc batteries, NC(OH) was found to have superior performance to its NCO prepared by two-step process.The XRD pattern showed mixed phases containing both Ni and Co hydroxides (during the initial step) and in the subsequent step (calcined) the formation of cubic spinel structure was noticed. For NC(OH), aggregated particles with irregular morphology were observed while clustered nanorod-like shapes were noticed for NCO samples. The nanorod morphology was obtained through a facile approach without employing any structure-directing agent. Both NC(OH) and NCO were employed as cathodes for Ni-Zn battery studies against Zn foil anode with a polyamide-based separator soaked in 6M KOH saturated with ZnO additive was used as electrolyte.The NC(OH) had a capacity of 268 mAhg-1 against 120 mAhg-1 for NCO at a current density of 1 Ag-1.The Ni-Zn battery presents energy and power densities of 428.8 WhKg-1 and 2.68 kWKg-1, respectively surpassing the normal values reported for aqueous rechargeable batteries.This work provides a facile approachfor developing bimetallic hydroxides for optimal energy storage performance.