Porous NiO hollow quasi-nanospheres derived from a new metal-organic framework template as high-performance anode materials for lithium ion batteries

Porous hollow metal oxides derived from nanoscaled metal-organic framework (MOF) have drawn tremendous attention due to their high electrochemical performance in advanced Li-ion batteries (LIBs). In this work, porous NiO hollow quasi-nanospheres were fabricated by an ordinary refluxing reaction combination of a thermal decomposition of new nanostructured Ni-MOF, i.e., {Ni-3(HCOO)(6)center dot DMF}(n). When evaluated as an anode material for lithium ion batteries, the MOF derived NiO electrode exhibits high capacity, good cycling stability and rate performance (760 mAh g(-1) at 200 mA g(-1) after 100 cycles, 392 mAh g(-1) at 3200 mA g(-1)). This superior lithium storage performance is mainly attributed to the unique hollow and porous nanostructure of the as-synthesized NiO, which offer enough space to accommodate the dramstic volume change and alleviate the pulverization problem during the repeated lithiation/delithiation processes, and provide more electro-active sites for fast electrochemical reactions as well as promote lithium ions and electrons transfer at the electrolyte/electrode interface.