Carbon‐Decorated Single‐Crystalline Ni2P Nanotubes Derived from Ni Nanowire Templates: A High‐Performance Material for Li‐Ion Batteries

Single‐crystalline Ni₂P nanotubes (NTs) were facilely synthesized by using a Ni nanowire template. The mechanism for the formation of the tubular structures was related to the nanoscale Kirkendall effect. These NTs exhibited a core/shell structure with an amorphous carbon layer that was grown in situ by employing oleylamine as a capping agent. Galvanostatic charge/discharge measurements indicated that these Ni₂P/C NTs exhibited superior high‐rate capability and good cycling stability. There was still about 310 mAh g^?1 retained after 100 cycles at a rate of 5 C. Importantly, the tubular nanostructures and the single‐crystalline nature of the Ni₂P NTs were also preserved after prolonged cycling at a relatively high rate. These improvements were attributed to the stable nanotubular structure of Ni₂P and the carbon shell, which enhanced the conductivity of Ni₂P, suppressed the aggregation of active particles, and increased the electrode stability during cycling.