Growth of hierarchical 3D mesoporous NiSix /NiCo2 O4 core/shell heterostructures on nickel foam for lithium-ion batteries.

We demonstrate the facile and well-controlled design and fabrication of heterostructured and hierarchical 3D mesoporous NiSix /NiCo2 O4 core/shell nanowire arrays on nickel foam through a facile chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique combined with a simple but powerful chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique. The smart hybridization of NiCo2 O4 and NiSix nanostructures results in an intriguing mesoporous hierarchical core/shell nanowire-array architecture. The nanowire arrays demonstrate enhanced electrochemical performance as binder- and conductive-agent-free electrodes for lithium ion batteries (LIBs) with excellent capacity retention and high rate capability on cycling. The electrodes can maintain a high reversible capacity of 1693 mA h g(-1) after 50 cycles at 20 mA g(-1) . Given the outstanding performance and simple, efficient, cost-effective fabrication, we believe that these 3D NiSix /NiCo2 O4 core/shell heterostructured arrays have great potential application in high-performance LIBs.