Facile preparation of SnO2/graphene nanosheet composite with excellent electrochemical performances for lithium storage

SnO2/graphene nanosheet composite is fabricated by a simple hydrothermal method, characterized by SnO2 nanoparticles as small as 4 nm anchored on the reduced graphene oxide nanosheets by l-ascorbic acid (SnO2/L-RGO). The as-made SnO2/L-RGO composite exhibits excellent lithium storage performance with the high initial discharge and charge capacities around 2004.9 and 1262.1 mA h g−1 at the current density of 100 mA g−1. The SnO2/L-RGO electrode also exhibits high reversible capacity with the 660.8 mA h g−1 remained after 300 cycles at the high current density of 500 mA g−1. Moreover, the SnO2/L-RGO electrode shows exceptional rate capability. The experimental results indicate that the combination of reduced graphene oxide by L-AA significantly boosts the cycling stability and rate capacity performance of SnO2 by effectively accommodating the large volume variation as well preventing the electrode from pulverization.