Deposition SnO2/Nitrogen-Doped Graphene Nanocomposites on the Separator: A New Type of Flexible Electrode for Energy Storage Devices

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces 2013-11, Vol.5 (22), p.12148-12155
• Main Authors: Liang, Junfei, Cai, Zhi, Tian, Yu, Li, Lidong, Geng, Jianxin, Guo, Lin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/am404072k

It is currently very urgent to develop flexible energy storage devices because of the growing academic interest in and strong technical demand of flexible electronics. Exploration of high-performance electrode materials and a corresponding assembly method for fabrication of flexible energy storage devices plays a critical role in fulfilling this demand. Here, we have developed a facile, economic, and green hydrothermal process to synthesize ultrasmall SnO2 nanocrystallites/nitrogen-doped graphene nanocomposites (USNGs) as a high-performance electrode material for Li-ion batteries (LIBs). Furthermore, using the glass microfiber filters (GMFs) as supporting substrate, the novel flexible USNG–GMF bilayered films have been prepared by depositing the as-prepared USNG on GMF through a simple vacuum filtration. Significantly, for the first time, the flexible USNG–GMF bilayered films have directly been used for assembling LIBs, where the GMF further functions as a separator. The obtained highly robust, binder-free, conducting agent-free, and current collector-free new type of flexible electrodes show excellent LIB performance.