Facile and Green Preparation for the Formation of MoO2-GO Composites as Anode Material for Lithium-Ion Batteries

A facile and green hydrothermal method has been developed to fabricate three-dimensional nanoarchitecture composites consisting of MoO2 nanoparticles decorated on the graphene oxide (GO). The composites were characterized by XRD, SEM, and HRTEM. It was demonstrated that MoO2 nanoparticles are 515 nm in size and homogeneously dispersed on GO and denoted as MoO2-GO composites. When tested as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries, the MoO2-GO composites exhibited an improved storage capacity and cycling performance, higher than the pure MoO2 nanoparticles. As a result, the GO effectively forms a conductive network that greatly enhances the electrical conductivity and structural stability of composites. The incorporation of the flexible and conductive GO and the small homogeneous MoO2 nanoparticles could not only maintain the structural and electrical integrity, but also accommodate the volume change during the lithium-ion intercalation and de-intercalation. The ultrafine MoO2 nanoparticles dispersed on the GO are beneficial to the improved electrochemical performance of the composites, which makes them a promising anode candidate for lithium-ion batteries.