Composites of amorphous carbon nanotube-modified reduced graphene oxide synthesized by ethanol decomposition and electrochemical evaluation of their lithium storage properties

A series of composites constituted by amorphous carbon nanotube-modified reduced graphene oxide (ACNT/RGO) are synthesized by ethanol decomposition over Co-containing catalysts. The effects of Co loadings and reaction temperatures on the morphology and structure of the composites are investigated. The lithium storage properties related to cycling performance and rate capability of the composites as anodes for lithium-ion batteries are studied systematically. The result shows that ACNT/RGO composites with diverse morphologies deliver very different lithium storage properties. The optimum reaction condition to synthesize high-performance ACNT/RGO electrodes was obtained. And our electrochemical results indicate that the synthesized ACNT/RGO composites exhibited a higher lithium storage property than those of previously reported well-crystallized multi- and single-walled CNT-modified RGO electrodes. The reasons for the differences in electrochemical properties of the ACNT/RGO electrodes are explained.