Microwave hydrothermal growth of In2S3 interconnected nanoflowers and nanoparticles on graphene for high-performance Li-ion batteries

Abstract

This paper reports microwave-assisted fast hydrothermal synthesis of In₂S₃ nanoparticles and unprecedented interconnected nanoflowers on graphene surface. The growth mechanisms for various In₂S₃-based products are investigated. These obtained In₂S₃ nanoparticles and nanoflowers are found to be uniformly dispersed on graphene nanosheets, forming sandwiched particle-on-sheet and unprecedented flower-on-sheet nanostructures. When fabricated as anode materials, In₂S₃–graphene composites show extraordinary large reversible capacities and good cycling performances and high rate capabilities. A reversible initial lithium-extraction capacity of 1249 mA h g⁻¹ is observed for the novel In₂S₃–graphene flower-on-sheet nanostructure at 70 mA g⁻¹, which can be retained at 913, 782, 690 mA h g⁻¹ at large currents of 700, 1400, 3500 mA g⁻¹ respectively. In comparison, the In₂S₃–graphene nanoparticle-on-sheet composite shows slightly lower reversible capacities but more stable cycling performances at both small and high currents mainly due to the presence of more graphene.