La2O3 doped hollow porous Ni/NiCo2O4/C microspheres with high lithium storage performance

La 2 O 3 doped hollow porous Ni/NiCo 2 O 4 /C microspheres (NCO-La) are prepared by solvothermal method. The doping of porous La 2 O 3 nanoparticles is crucial to reduce the crystalline grain size of NiCo 2 O 4 and the internal resistance of the electrode, which facilitates ionic and electronic transportation efficiency. Hollow porous NCO-La microspheres with carbon networks have good mechanical strength and can effectively suppress volume expansion and aggregation. The combination of high-conductivity carbon and metallic nickel improves electronic conductivity. The nanostructure in the composite microspheres brings abundant active sites, which facilitates rapid redox of metal ions and allows rapid insertion and removal of Li + , consequently effectively improving the specific capacity. Benefiting from the synergy of well-designed nanostructure, the material shows high Li + storage performance and good stability. At 0.2 A g −1 after 250 cycles, the discharge specific capacity of NCO-La0.1 (1596.2 mAh g −1 ) is far better than NiCo 2 O 4 (655.6 mAh g −1 ) without La 2 O 3 doping. Such design concept of nanostructures provides a promising way to develop high-performance anode materials for LIBs.