Copper ferrites@reduced graphene oxide anode materials for advanced lithium storage applications

• Published in: Scientific reports 2017-08, Vol.7 (1), p.8903-12, Article 8903
• Main Authors: Wang, Junyong, Deng, Qinglin, Li, Mengjiao, Jiang, Kai, Zhang, Jinzhong, Hu, Zhigao, Chu, Junhao
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 639/301/299/891; 639/4077/4079/891; Copper; Development strategies; Electrodes; Energy storage; Humanities and Social Sciences; Lithium; Metal oxides; multidisciplinary; Oxides; Science; Science (multidisciplinary)
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-09214-0

Copper ferrites are emerging transition metal oxides that have potential applications in energy storage devices. However, it still lacks in-depth designing of copper ferrites based anode architectures with enhanced electroactivity for lithium-ion batteries. Here, we report a facile synthesis technology of copper ferrites anchored on reduced graphene oxide (CuFeO 2 @rGO and Cu/CuFe 2 O 4 @rGO) as the high-performance electrodes. In the resulting configuration, reduced graphene offers continuous conductive channels for electron/ion transfer and high specific surface area to accommodate the volume expansion of copper ferrites. Consequently, the sheet-on-sheet CuFeO 2 @rGO electrode exhibits a high reversible capacity (587 mAh g −1 after 100 cycles at 200 mA g −1 ). In particular, Cu/CuFe 2 O 4 @rGO hybrid, which combines the advantages of nano-copper and reduced graphene, manifests a significant enhancement in lithium storage properties. It reveals superior rate capability (723 mAh g −1 at 800 mA g −1 ; 560 mAh g −1 at 3200 mA g −1 ) and robust cycling capability (1102 mAh g −1 after 250 cycles at 800 mA g −1 ). This unique structure design provides a strategy for the development of multivalent metal oxides in lithium storage device applications.