Facile one-pot synthesis of ultrathin NiS nanosheets anchored on graphene and the improved electrochemical Li-storage properties

A NiS/graphene (NiS/G) nanohybrid has been synthesized by a facile in situ one-pot hydrothermal route using graphite oxide, thiourea, NiCl2 center dot 4H(2)O and sodium citrate as the raw materials. The growth of NiS nanosheets and the reduction of graphite oxide occur simultaneously during the hydrothermal reactions. The hybrid exhibits a unique sheet-on-sheet structure, where ultrathin NiS sheets (below 5 nm) are anchoring on few-layer (below 8 layers) graphene sheets. The electrochemical measurements indicate that the NiS/G hybrid exhibits remarkably improved Li-storage properties compared with bare NiS, due to the ultrathin feature of the NiS sheets, unique sheet-on-sheet structure of the hybrid, and the combined conducting, buffering and confining effects of the in situ introduced graphene nanosheets.