Boosting the high-rate performance of lithium-ion battery anodes using MnCoO/CoO nanocomposite interfaces.

Herein, a mesoporous MnCoO/CoO nanocomposite was fabricated using a polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-assisted hydrothermal synthesis method by maintaining only the non-stoichiometric ratio of Mn and Co (2 : 6), leading to an extra phase of CoO coupled with MnCoO. Microstructural analysis showed that the obtained sample has a uniform nanowire-like morphology composed of interconnected nanoparticles. The stoichiometric ratio (2 : 4) was maintained to synthesize pure MnCoO for comparative analysis. However, the obtained structure of pure MnCoO was found to be irregular and fragile. After their employment as anode-active materials, the nanocomposite electrode showed superior high rate capability (1043.8 mA h g at 5C) and long-term cycling stability (773.6 mA h g after 500 cycles at 0.5C) in comparison to the pure MnCoO electrode (771.5 mA h g at 5C and 638.9 mA h g at 0.5C after 500 cycles). It was believed that the extra phase of CoO may also participate in the electrochemical reactions due to its high electrochemically active nature. Benefiting from the appealing architectural features and striking synergistic effect, the integrated MnCoO/CoO nanocomposite anode exhibits excellent electrochemical properties and high cycle stability for LIBs.