Porous Mn3O4 nanorod/reduced graphene oxide hybrid paper as a flexible and binder-free anode material for lithium ion battery

• A porous manganese oxide nanorod/graphene paper is prepared by a two-step process.
• This porous structure can provide a large contact area between the materials and electrolytes.
• The porous manganese oxide nanorod/graphene paper shows superior electrochemical performance.

A highly flexible and free-standing, porous Mn3O4 nanorod/reduced graphene oxide (pMn3O4 NR/rGO) paper was prepared by a two-step process: vacuum filtration and thermal treatment. The MnOOH nanorod/graphene oxide (MnOOH NR/GO) paper obtained by a simple filtration method is transformed into pMn3O4 NR/rGO paper after a thermal reduction process. A unique lamellar structure was achieved with pMn3O4 NR homogeneously intercalated within the GO layers. In the hybrid structure, graphene nanosheets provide a conductive pathway and act as the buffer layers to prevent the pulverization of pMn3O4 NRs during reaction. Therefore, when used as the anode in lithium ion batteries, this pMn3O4 NR/rGO paper exhibits a first high discharge capacity of 943 mA h g−1, which quickly stabilizes and remains at 573 mA h g−1 even after 100 cycles at 100 mA h g−1, which is much higher than the discharge capacity of the corresponding pristine graphene paper (183 mA h g−1).

As a flexible and binder-free anode material, the porous manganese oxide nanorod/reduced graphene oxide (pMn3O4/rGO) paper were prepared by simple filtration combined with a thermal treatment. In the hybrid paper, pMn3O4 NRs with large aspect ratios are distributed on rGO homogeneously. These unique structures are beneficial to improve the electrochemical performance owing to the large surface area and void space to buffer volume expansion.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide