Harnessing the synergic lithium storage and morphology evolution of 1D bundle-like NiCo2O4@TiO2 hybrid to prolong the cycling life for lithium ion batteries

The 1D bundle-like NiCo2O4@TiO2 hybrid was synthesized by a general and effective microemulsion strategy. It is found that after cycles the primitive 1D shape has been translated into broccoli-like fashion accompanied with abundant pores, enough active sites and convenient diffusion path, which endows the hybrid with high lithium storage capability and excellent cyclability. As anodes for LIBs, a reversible discharge capacity of 749.74 mA h g−1 is achieved after 800 long-term cycles at a current density of 2000 mA g−1 compared to 447.35 mAh g−1 of pure NiCo2O4. The hybrid also delivers superior rate performance such as 561.09 mAh g−1 even at a large current density of 5000 mA g−1. Specifically, when the current density gradually returns to 2000 mA g−1, the capacity still recovers to 696.69 mAh g−1.