title: A general method of fabricating flexible spinel-type oxide/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite aerogels as advanced anodes for lithium-ion batteries.
abstract: High-capacity anode materials for lithium ion batteries (LIBs), such as spinel-type metal oxides, generally suffer from poor Li(+) and e(-) conductivities. Their drastic crystal structure and volume changes, as a result of the conversion reaction mechanism with Li, severely impede the high-rate and cyclability performance toward their practical application. In this article, we present a general and facile approach to fabricate flexible spinel-type oxide/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composite aerogels as binder-free anodes where the spinel nanoparticles (NPs) are integrated in an interconnected rGO network. Benefiting from the hierarchical porosity, conductive network and mechanical stability constructed by interpenetrated rGO layers, and from the pillar effect of NPs in between rGO sheets, the hybrid system synergistically enhances the intrinsic properties of each component, yet is robust and flexible. Consequently, the spinel/rGO composite aerogels demonstrate greatly enhanced rate capability and long-term stability without obvious capacity fading for 1000 cycles at high rates of up to 4.5 A g(-1) in the case of CoFe2O4. This electrode design can successfully be applied to several other spinel ferrites such as MnFe2O4, Fe3O4, NiFe2O4 or Co3O4, all of which lead to excellent electrochemical performances.
authors.affiliation: †Laboratory for Multifunctional Materials, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5, 8093, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Guobo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: ‡State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, PR China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: §Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 1, 8093, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hess
authors.affiliation: †Laboratory for Multifunctional Materials, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5, 8093, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: †Laboratory for Multifunctional Materials, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5, 8093, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: ‡State Key Laboratory of Metal Matrix Composites, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, PR China.
authors.forename: Tongxiang
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: †Laboratory for Multifunctional Materials, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5, 8093, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Niederberger
keywords: Li-ion batteries; flexible aerogels; graphene oxide; nanocomposites; spinel nanocrystals