Recent progress of NiCo2O4-based anodes for high-performance lithium-ion batteries

Abstract Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are deemed as the most promising energy storage devices due to their high power density, excellent safety performance and superior cyclability. However, traditional carbon-based anodes are incapable of satisfying the ever-growing demand for high energy density owing to their low intrinsic theoretical capacity. Therefore, the research of post-carbon anodes (such as transition metal) for LIBs has exponentially increased. Among them, NiCo 2 O 4 together with its composites have been widely studied by academic workers due to their high theoretical capacity and excellent electronic conductivity. In this review, the electrochemical reaction mechanism and recent progress including the synthetic method, various nanostructures and the strategies for improving performance of NiCo 2 O 4 are summarized and discussed here. Specially, the hollow porous nanostructured NiCo 2 O 4 -based materials composed of 2D structures usually exhibit excellent capacity and stable cyclability. This review also offers some rational understandings and new thinking of the relationship between the synthetic method, morphologies, blending, current collector and electrochemical performance of NiCo 2 O 4 -based anodes. We have reason to believe that the integration of NiCo 2 O 4 materials in these clean energy devices provides important chances to address challenges driven by increasing world energy demand.