Superior Li-ion storage performance of graphene decorated NiO nanowalls on Ni as anode for lithium ion batteries

Graphene decorated NiO nanowalls grown on porous Ni foam (NiO-G-Ni) are fabricated via facile electrochemical corrosion and subsequent annealing treatment. High pseudocapacitive contribution for charge storage is triggered in the NiO-G-Ni, with hierarchical porous architecture improving lithium ion diffusion and graphene backbone facilitating electron transfer. The NiO-G-Ni undergoes novel electrochemical reconstruction upon cycling, while nano-size of NiO and graphene decoration are well kept. As a result, the NiO-G-Ni exhibits superior cycle stability. It delivers initial charge/discharge capacity of 936/734 mAh g(-1)at 125 mA g(-1). The charge/discharge capacity decrease little in the first few cycles and then gradually recover and maintain at 732/722 mAh g(-1) after 150 cycles.