Mixing amorphous carbon enhanced electrochemical performances of NiCo2O4 nanoparticles as anode materials for sodium-ion batteries

• Published in: Applied physics. A, Materials science & processing Vol. 126; no. 7
• Main Authors: Nguyen, Hung H., To, Nguyen V., Tran, Thu V., Nguyen, Ky V., Luong, Son T., Nguyen, Nga N. T., Hoang, Chung V., Nguyen, Hieu S., Nguyen, Nghia V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Activated carbon; Amorphous materials; Anodes; Applied physics; Carbon; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Composite materials; Condensed Matter Physics; Electrochemical analysis; Electrode materials; Machines; Manufacturing; Materials science; Nanoparticles; Nanotechnology; Nickel compounds; Optical and Electronic Materials; Performance enhancement; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Processes; Rechargeable batteries; Sodium-ion batteries; Surfaces and Interfaces; Thin Films; Transition metal oxides; Nanomaterials; Nanofabrication; Sodium-ion battery; Amorphous carbon; Surface modification and applications; Anode materials
• DOI: 10.1007/s00339-020-03713-0
• ISSN: 0947-8396

The NiCo 2 O 4 ternary transition metal oxide (NCO) has been received a great interest as anode material for sodium-ion batteries, recently. Here we show that a composite material composed of NCO nanoparticles (NCO-NPs) and amorphous carbon (NCO/C composite) displayed a superior electrochemical performance over the NCO-NPs. The NCO-NPs delivered a capacity of 172 mAh g −1 at the current density of 50 mA g −1 , and the capacity was reduced to 29 mAh g −1 after 50 cycles. The NCO/C composite showed a capacity of 213 mAh g −1 at 50 mA g −1 ; the capacity was lowered to 119 mAh g −1 after 100 cycles. The capacity of the composite at 100 mA g −1 , 200 mA g −1 and 300 mA g −1 was ca. 123 mAh g −1 , 93 mAh g −1 and 62 mAh g −1 , respectively. This improvement is ascribed to the presence of the activated hard carbon of high electronic conductivity. Our work suggests that the combination of amorphous carbon with the NCO-NPs can serve as anodes for sodium-ion batteries.