Carbon-coated NiCo2S4 multi-shelled hollow microspheres with porous structures for high rate lithium ion battery applications

Carbon-coated multi-shelled hollow nanomaterials with porous structures are regarded as promising anode materials for high performances lithium storage. However, a great challenge to the construction of carbon-coated multi-shelled hollow structures is the need for a facile and template-free route. Herein, we develop a sample solvothermal route followed with high-temperature pyrolysis method to construct carbon-coated NiCo2S4 multi-shelled hollow microspheres with porous structures. As an anode material for lithium-ion batteries, it exhibits a high specific capacity of 1946.7 mAh g−1 at a current density of 0.2 A g−1 and outstanding long-term cycling performances of 1242.8 and 656.4 mAh g−1 after 1000 cycles at high current densities of 2 and 5 A g−1, respectively.