Construction of SnO2−Graphene Composite with Half-Supported Cluster Structure as Anode toward Superior Lithium Storage Properties

• Main Authors: Chengling Zhu, Zhixin Chen, Shenmin Zhu, Yao Li, Hui Pan, Xin Meng, Muhammad Imtiaz, Di Zhang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Nature Publishing Group 2017-06-01
• Series: Scientific Reports
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-03603-1

Inspired by nature, herein we designed a novel construction of SnO2 anodes with an extremely high lithium storage performance. By utilizing small sheets of graphene oxide, the partitioned-pomegranate-like structure was constructed (SnO2@C@half-rGO), in which the porous clusters of SnO2 nanoparticles are partially supported by reduced graphene oxide sheets while the rest part is exposed (half-supported), like partitioned pomegranates. When served as anode for lithium-ion batteries, SnO2@C@half-rGO exhibited considerably high specific capacity (1034.5 mAh g−1 after 200 cycles at 100 mA g−1), superior rate performance and remarkable durability (370.3 mAh g−1 after 10000 cycles at 5 A g−1). When coupled with graphitized porous carbon cathode for lithium-ion hybrid capacitors, the fabricated devices delivered a high energy density of 257 Wh kg−1 at ∼200 W kg−1 and maintained 79 Wh kg−1 at a super-high power density of ∼20 kW kg−1 within a wide voltage window up to 4 V. This facile and scalable approach demonstrates a new architecture for graphene-based composite for practical use in energy storage with high performance.