Hydrothermal controlled synthesis of Fe3O4 nanorods/graphene nanocomposite for high-performance lithium ion batteries

Controllably synthesized Fe3O4 nanorods/graphene nanocomposites (FNGC) with hydrothermal method were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms and Raman Spectra. The results illustrated that multicrystal Fe3O4 nanorods with a diameter of about 11 nm and a length of more than 100 nm were uniformly anchored on the surface of graphene sheets. N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms indicated that FNGC with mesoporous structure of 3–4 nm possessed the specific surface area of 180 m2/g. The influences of experiment conditions such as amount of graphite oxide, pH value, hydrothermal condition etc. on the morphologies of Fe3O4 in nanocomposites were investigated. The results indicated that the amount of graphite oxide, pH and static hydrothermal condition played crucial roles in the formation of FNGC. Besides, the relationship between the structure of Fe3O4/graphene nanocomposites and electrochemical properties has been investigated in this work..