Self-assembly and performances of wrinkled rGO@carbon fiber with embedded SnO2 nanoparticles as anode materials for structural lithium-ion battery

• DOI: 10.1007/s10853-018-2401-6
• Publication Date: 2018-05-14T15:28:16Z
• Authors: Huagen Li; Shubin Wang; Mengjie Feng; Jiping Yang; Boming Zhang
• Keywords: 02 engineering and technology; 0210 nano-technology; 7. Clean energy

To meet the requirements for the mechanical and electrochemical performance for carbon fiber-based (CF-based) composite electrode materials in the structural lithium-ion batteries application, better CF-based composite is urgently needed. Herein, we report a novel hierarchical structure formed by wrinkled reduced graphene oxide/tin oxide (rGO/SnO2) coating wrapping on the surface of CF for the first time via a facile self-assembly approach and subsequent annealing treatment. Although the mass ratio of rGO/SnO2 coating in this composite is only about 12.8%, it exhibits excellent tensile strength which is up to 5.01 GPa and cycling stability including a high reversible capacity of 369 mAh g−1 at 100 mA g−1, which increases 230% than that of the CF. Besides, the morphology of this composite after 100 cycles is firstly observed to further confirm it still maintains a layered and fibrous structure. The excellent properties may benefit from the design of hierarchical hybrid rGO/SnO2 coating and the synergistic effects of SnO2, rGO and CF.