Synthesis of nickel oxide/reduced graphene oxide composite with nanosheet-on-sheet nanostructure for lithium-ion batteries

•The standing nanosheets prevent the active materials from aggregating.•The structure makes the materials contact the electrolyte and Li+ sufficiently.•Larger specific surface area provides more active sites for redox reaction.•GO is fixed with NiO NSs by a C–O–Ni bridge.

In this paper, a nanosheet-on-sheet architecture constructed from hierarchical, ultrathin, standing NiO nanosheets and rGO (denoted as NiO NSs@rGO) is successfully synthesized through a facile route. When evaluated as an anode electrode material for lithium ion batteries, the results show that the NiO NSs@rGO composite exhibits outstanding lithium storage performances with high specific capacity and excellent rate performance. The smart nanosheet-on-sheet architecture and its favorable synergistic effect between NiO and rGO make a contribution to the excellent electrochemical performance.

Graphical abstractA nanosheet-on-sheet architecture NiO NSs@rGO hybrid nanostructures exhibit an excellent lithium storage performances with high specific capacity and excellent rate performance. Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide