Facile synthesis of spongy NiCoO powders for lithium-ion storage.

Spongy NiCoO powders were prepared by solution combustion synthesis (SCS) method for lithium ions storage. The effects of combustion parameters including fuel type (L-lysine, glycine, and urea) and fuel amount on the lithium storage performance of NiCoO powders were analyzed by various characterization techniques. Single-phase NiCoO powders with extremely porous microstructure showed a strong drop of initial specific capacity up to 350 mAhg which was recovered up to 666 mAhg following 100 charge/discharge cycles. However, the NiCoO powders prepared by the urea and L-lysine fuels with the compacted microstructure showed the capacity loss without any recovery. The spongy NiCoO powders showed an acceptable capability rate performance (404 mAhg @ 400 mAg).