High-rate and long-life of Li-ion batteries using reduced graphene oxide/Co3O4 as anode materials

Abstract

Metal oxides as Li-ion battery anodes have received a great deal of attention because they offer a higher specific capacity than state-of-the-art commercial graphite. However, a large volume change and severe particle aggregation during battery operation have greatly impeded their practical application. Herein, we report a facile one-step microwave-assisted route for growing Co₃O₄ nanoparticles on reduced graphene oxide that results in a high performance anode material for Li-ion batteries. The lithium battery performances of several systems with varied reduced graphene oxide contents were studied. The optimized composites exhibit a high surface area of 222 m² g⁻¹, and a wide pore size distribution of 1.4 to 300 nm. More importantly, the Li-ion battery shows a high capacity of ∼1300 mA h g⁻¹ at a high rate of 1C (1C = 890 mA g⁻¹), long life of over 600 cycles, good capacity retention, and excellent rate capability. The synthesis process is simple, energy efficient, and time-saving, providing a new path in designing high-performance electrodes for Li-ion batteries.