Synergistic Effect of Mesoporous Co3 O4 Nanowires Confined by N-Doped Graphene Aerogel for Enhanced Lithium Storage.
A one-step multipurpose strategy is developed to realize a sophisticated design that simultaneously integrates three desirable components of nitrogen dopant, 3D graphene, and 1D mesoporous metal oxide nanowires into one hybrid material. This facile synthetic strategy includes a one-step hydrothermal reaction followed by topotactic calcination. The utilization of urea as the starting reagent enables the precipitation of precursor nanowires and concurrent doping of nitrogen heteroatoms on graphene during hydrothermal reaction, while at the same time the graphene nanosheets are self-assembled to afford a 3D scaffold. Detailed characterizations on the final calcined product are conducted to confirm the phase purity, porosity, nitrogen composition, and morphology. The integration of two building blocks, i.e., flexible graphene nanosheets and Co3 O4 nanowires, enables various intertwining behaviors such as seaming, bridging, hooping, bundling, and sandwiching, of which synergistic effect substantially enhances electrical and electrochemical properties of the resultant hybrid. For lithium ion battery application of the hybrid, a remarkably high capacity more than 1200 mA h g(-1) (at 100 mA g(-1) ) is stabilized over 100 cycles with coulombic efficiency higher than 97%. Even during rapid discharge/charge processes (1000 mA g(-1) ), a reversible charge capacity of 812 mA h g(-1) is still retained after 230 cycles.
Division of Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, 637371, Singapore.
Xin
X
Yao
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, 639798, Singapore.
Guilue
G
Guo
Division of Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, 637371, Singapore.
Yang
Y
Zhao
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, 639798, Singapore.
Yu
Y
Zhang
Division of Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, 637371, Singapore.
Si Yu
SY
Tan
Division of Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, 637371, Singapore.|Singapore Peking University Research Centre (SPURc) for a Sustainable Low-Carbon Future, 1 Create Way, 138602, Singapore.
Yongfei
Y
Zeng
Singapore Peking University Research Centre (SPURc) for a Sustainable Low-Carbon Future, 1 Create Way, 138602, Singapore.|Beijing Key Laboratory for Theory and Technology of Advanced, Battery Materials, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
Ruqiang
R
Zou
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, 639798, Singapore.
Qingyu
Q
Yan
Division of Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 21 Nanyang Link, 637371, Singapore.|School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, 639798, Singapore.|Singapore Peking University Research Centre (SPURc) for a Sustainable Low-Carbon Future, 1 Create Way, 138602, Singapore.
Yanli
Y
Zhao
3D graphene; lithium storage; mesoporous Co3O4 nanowires; nitrogen doping; one-step hydrothermal method