Fabrication and electrochemical performance of nickel ferrite nanoparticles as anode material in lithium ion batteries

Nano-sized nickel ferrite (NiFe2O4) was prepared by hydrothermal method at low temperature. The crystalline phase, morphology and specific surface area (BET) of the resultant samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and nitrogen physical adsorption, respectively. The particle sizes of the resulting NiFe2O4 samples were in the range of 5–15 nm. The electrochemical performance of NiFe2O4 nanoparticles as the anodic material in lithium ion batteries was tested. It was found that the first discharge capacity of the anode made from NiFe2O4 nanoparticles could reach a very high value of 1314 mAh g−1, while the discharge capacity decreased to 790.8 mAh g−1 and 709.0 mAh g−1 at a current density of 0.2 mA cm−2 after 2 and 3 cycles, respectively. The BET surface area is up to 111.4 m2 g−1. The reaction mechanism between lithium and nickel ferrite was also discussed based on the results of cycle voltammetry (CV) experiments.