Novel NiCo2S4 nanorods arrays grown on carbon nanofibers as high-performance anodes for sodium ion batteries

Abstract Novel NiCo₂S₄ nanorods arrays are uniformly grown onto carbon nanofibers (NiCo₂S₄@CNF) through a facile hydrothermal approach. The elaborate designed composite structure ensures that the NiCo₂S₄ nanorods arrays are uniformly dispersed on the surfaces of carbon nanofibers (CNF) and tightly bonded with each other. The conductive networks of CNF can facilitate the electron transport at the interfaces and ions diffusion to readily react with NiCo₂S₄, thus leading to increased sodium storage. In view of this, NiCo₂S₄@CNF reveals a high reversible capacity (683.6 mAh g⁻ ¹ at 0.1 A g⁻ ¹) and long-term cycle stability (only attenuates 0.07% in each cycle after 400 times). This work provides a simple and efficient strategy for synthesizing high-performance sodium ion battery electrodes.