Porous and hollow NiO microspheres for high capacity and long-life anode materials of Li-ion batteries

Hollow NiO microspheres with porous shell are synthesized through the ion exchange of a facile zinc citrate template with the subsequent chemical etching. As an anode material for LIBs, the porous hollow NiO electrode shows much higher reversible capacity and better cycling stability in comparison with the ZnO-NiO composite. After 400 cycles under a high current rate of 1 C, the discharge capacity of the NiO electrode is steadily maintained around 700 mA g(-1). This excellent high power performance is attributed to the unique hollow and porous nano structure, which not only increases the speed of mass transport but also accommodates the drastic volume change during the cycling process. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.