Facile fabrication of MnO2 nanorod/graphene hybrid as cathode materials for lithium batteries

• Published in: Electrochimica acta 2013-09, Vol.106, p.406-410
• Main Authors: Tu, Feiyue, Wu, Tonghua, Liu, Suqin, Jin, Guanhua, Pan, Chunyue
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Annealing; Cycles; Electronics; Graphene; Hybrid; Lithium batteries; Magnesium; Manganese dioxide; Nanorods; Nanostructure; Scanning electron microscopy
• ISSN: 0013-4686; 1873-3859
• DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2013.05.108

•The MG-300 was synthesized by a facile and effective thermal annealing method.•The SEM and TEM images showed that the MnO2 nanorods were well anchored on the surface of graphene.•The MG-300 delivered the best electrochemical performance among all the as-prepared samples.•The MG-300 showed a high initial capacity of 241mAhg−1 at 0.1C and maintained at a capacity of 158.3mAhg−1 after 100 cycles. A facile thermal annealing method is demonstrated to fabricate the MnO2 nanorods/graphene hybrid. The MnO2 nanorods are well anchored on the graphene, confirmed by the scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy images. The hybrid annealed at 300°C (MG-300) shows a high initial discharge capacity of 241mAhg−1 at 0.1C with a graphene loading rate of 9%. In addition, it shows good cycling stability and maintains a capacity of 158.3mAhg−1 after 100 cycles in the potential window between 2 and 3.5V. The MG-300 exhibits the best electrochemical performance among all the materials, which is due to the high electronic conductivity of graphene and the MnO2 nanorods which is consisted of γ-MnO2 and β-MnO2.