A one-pot microwave-assisted non-aqueous sol-gel approach to metal oxide/graphene nanocomposites for Li-ion batteries

Abstract

A one-pot non-aqueous synthesis of crystalline SnO2- and Fe3O4-based graphene heterostructures in just a few minutes is introduced. The combined properties of the microwave heating and the "benzyl alcohol route" allow the selective growth of metal oxide nanoparticles at the surface of graphene oxide, which is reduced during synthesis. The as-fabricated nanostructures show good lithium intercalation-deintercalation performances at high rate and good cycling stability compared to the separated nano-building blocks.