In Situ Growth of Layered Double Hydroxide-Derived NiCoO2 Nanorod Arrays on Carbon Fiber Cloth for the Application on High-Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries

Rod-shaped skeleton NiCoO2 grown directly on mechanically flexible and electrically conducting carbon fiber cloth (NiCoO2/CFC) is synthesized via a facile hydrothermal route and applied initially as an anode for flexible lithium-ion batteries. Electrochemical test results indicate that the NiCoO2/CFC electrode exhibits high rate capability and cycling stability and realizes a high areal capacity of 2.41 mAh cm(-2) after 120 cycles, superior to the pure NiCoO2 electrode. The excellent electrochemical performance can be interpreted as the synergistic and complementary effects between the flexible substrate and bimetal oxides, which makes the NiCoO2/CFC electrodes achieve fast electron and Li+ transportation, good mechanical flexibility, and particularly, superior electrochemical stability. Furthermore, the lithium storage behavior is investigated through electrochemical kinetic analysis. Herein, the possibilities of anode materials with high performance for next-generation flexible energy storage devices are described.