Fabrication of NiO-NiMoO4/PPy microspheres as high-performance anode material for lithium-ion battery

In this work, the spherical NiO-NiMoO4 composite was synthesized by solvothermal route followed by calcination, and then spherical NiO-NiMoO4/PPy composite was synthesized by in situ polymerization of pyrrole monomer. The NiO-NiMoO4 and NiO-NiMoO4/PPy microspheres with a particle size of around 1-2 mu m consist of nanorods and nanosheets. Hence, NiO-NiMoO4/PPy anode shows a higher delithiation and lithiation capacities than NiO-NiMoO4 at each rate. At 0.2 A g(-1), NiO-NiMoO4 only shows an initial delithiation capacity of similar to 775 mAh g(-1), and the capacity only keeps 207 mAh g(-1) after 160 cycles. Nonetheless, NiO/NiMoO4/PPy shows an initial delithiation capacity of 884 mAh g(-1), and the capacity also maintains 846 mAh g(-1) even after 160 cycles. The corresponding capacity retention of NiO/NiMoO4/PPy and NiO/NiMoO4 are 95.7% and 26.7%, respectively. The PPy modification is a direct and effective strategy to improve the reversible capacity and cycling performance of NiO-NiMoO4 composite.