Hierarchical porous stratified texture and enhanced lithium-ion storage performance of Co3O4 modified by nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxides

Choosing, designing and preparing the alternative electrode materials are of highly urgent for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) in sustainable energy storage fields. Herein, a novel and well-dispersive hierarchical porous stratified texture of Co3O4 modified by nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxides (N-rGO/Co3O4) microplates are successfully synthesized via a reproducible and mass-produced route. The N-rGO/Co3O4 microplates are hierarchically self-assembled by a few porous thin nanoflakes and the N-rGO is uniformly permeated into Co3O4 matrix. As an anode material for LIBs, the N-rGO/Co3O4 microplates deliver a high initial discharge capacity of 1890 mAh.g(-1) at 1 A g(-1) with a Coulombic efficiency as high as 77.6%. During the 1000 charging-discharging cycles, the capacities and Coulombic efficiencies maintain at 1000 mAh.g(-1) and 99.6%. Even the current density is increased to 2 A g(-1), the electrode still delivers a stable capacity of 770 mAh.g(-1) for 500 cycles. Moreover, the rate performance is highly superior. Such an advanced Li ions storage of the N-rGO/Co3O4 microplates is mainly due to the modification of small quantity N-rGO improving the electric conductivity without sacrificing the capacity of Co3O4 and the hierarchical porous stratified texture. Hence, the hierarchical porous N-rGO/Co3O4 microplates and synthetic strategy can be applied for next-generation LIBs in the near future. (C)2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.