Phase-separation-driven formation of nickel-cobalt oxide nanotubes as high-capacity anode materials for lithium-ion batteries

Nickel-Cobalt oxide nanotubes are prepared by a simple electrospinning technique based on a phase-separation mechanism. Extra tetraethyl orthosilicate (Si(OC2H5)4) is introduced and removed by design to obtain nanotube structure. The prepared nanotubes deliver remarkable electrochemical performance as the lithium-ion batteries anode materials. It possesses a capacity of 924 mAh/g after 95 cycles at 100 mA/g. At 2000 mA/g, it has a high capacity of 770 mAh/g, and still has 255 mAh/g at 1000 mA/g after 500 cycles. The outstanding electrochemical performance is attributed to the unique hierarchical tubular nanostructures design. This simple method opens new opportunities for fabricating practical nanostructured anode materials. IMPACT STATEMENT: This paper gives a simple phase separation method to fabricate polycrystalline nanotube structures and the nanotubes are suitable as lithium battery anode materials with remarkably enhanced lithium storage.