Assembly of Tin Oxide/Graphene Nanosheets into 3D Hierarchical Frameworks for High-Performance Lithium Storage

3D hierarchical tin oxide/graphene frameworks (SnO2/GFs) were built up by the insitu synthesis of 2D SnO2/graphene nanosheets followed by hydrothermal assembly. These SnO2/GFs exhibited a 3D hierarchical porous architecture with mesopores (approximate to 3nm), macropores (3-6m), and a large surface area (244m(2)g(-1)), which not only effectively prevented the agglomeration of SnO2 nanoparticles, but also facilitated fast ion and electron transport in 3D pathways. As a consequence, the SnO2/GFs exhibited a high capacity of 830mAhg(-1) for up to 70 charge-discharge cycles at 100mAg(-1). Even at a high current density of 500mAg(-1), a reversible capacity of 621mAhg(-1) could be maintained for SnO2/GFs with excellent cycling stability. Such performance is superior to that of previously reported SnO2/graphene and other SnO2/carbon composites with similar weight contents of SnO2.