Facile Synthesis of Hierarchical Dandelion-Like NiCo2O4 Microspheres and Their Lithium-Ion Battery Application

Transition-metal oxides (e.g., cobalt oxide, Co3O4) have long been promising alternative anode materials to graphite, which have higher theory specific capacity. While compared with binary Co3O4 electrode materials, ternary NiCo2O4 anode has much higher electrical conductivity, and such hugely increasing of electrical conductivity of Co3O4 electrode should greatly enhance its lithium storage performances, especially for its high rate capability. Herein, we reported a mild and cost-effective solution method to directly grow Ni-substituted Co3O4 (ternary NiCo2O4) self-assembled nanorods ( hierarchical dandelion-like NiCo2O4 microspheres). Remarkably, due to their well-aligned nanorod microstructure and higher electrical conductivity compared with binary Co3O4, these 3D hierarchical dandelion-like NiCo2O4 microspheres manifest high specific capacity, excellent cycling stability and high rate capability.