Extremely high capacity and stability of Co3O4/graphene nanocomposites as the anode of lithium-ion battery

Co3O4/graphene nanocomposites are synthesized by a hydrothermal method, and their extremely high capacity and stability as the anode of lithium-ion battery is obtained. Co3O4 nanowires with the length of similar to 500 nm and the diameter of similar to 50 nm are uniformly coated on the surface of graphene nanosheets. The reversible capacity is 906.6 mA h g(-1) at 0.1 C rate (10 h per charging cycle) and fades merely 6.9% after 50 cycles. Such behaviors can be attributed to high electron and Li-ion conductivity, large surface area, good mechanical flexibility of graphene nanosheets and the synergetic effect between graphene and Co3O4 nanostructures. The present results indicate that Co3O4/graphene nanocomposites have potential applications in the anode of LIB. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.