SnO2/Graphene Nanocomposites as High-Capacity Anode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries: Synthesis and Electrochemical Performanc

Lithium ion batteries as a power source are the most commonly used in the electronic devices and electric vehicles (EV) for grid-energy storage. Anode materials with high specific capacity for lithium ion batteries have been developed in recent years. SnO2 has also been considered as a promising candidate to serve as the anode material for lithium ion batteries due to its high theoretical capacity. But the volume expansion effect results in the degradation of active material and limits the complete realization of theoretical capacity. Graphene has recently become one of the most promising matrices for high-capacity anode materials, due to good electrical conductivity, outstanding mechanical flexibility and high theoretical capacity. In this paper, the nanocomposites of SnO2 and graphene as anode materials for lithium ion batteries were facilely synthesized through hydrothermal method. The design of SnO2/graphene nanocomposites could significantly improve the electrochemical performance by increasing electrical conductivity and buffering volume expansion. It is noteworthy that the quality and structural design of graphene is very important to improve the electrochemical performance for SnO2-based materials. Therefore, on the one hand, a new method to prepare highly dispersible edge-selectively oxidized graphene was reported in this paper. On the other hand, we designed a novel three-dimensional graphene named flower-like graphene tube. Furthermore, characterization and electrochemical performance of these materials were also studied by various technologies.