Facile synthesis of reduced graphene oxide wrapped nickel silicate hierarchical hollow spheres for long-life lithium-ion batteries

Layered silicate is a new type of electrode material with high reversible capacity. However, its poor electrical conductivity leads to rapid capacity decay. To solve this problem, reduced graphene oxide (RGO) wrapped nickel silicate (NiSiO) hollow spheres are successfully synthesized. The hollow structure provides sufficient free space to accommodate the volume variation during lithiation/de-lithiation and the RGO improves the electrical conductivity. The resulting NiSiO/RGO delivers a capacity of 400 mA h g super(-1) at 500 mA g super(-1) after 1000 cycles, making the NiSiO/RGO composite a promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries.