CuO nanorods/graphene nanocomposites for high-performance lithium-ion battery anodes

Highlights: • CuO/GNS nanocomposites are synthesized by a hydrothermal method. • CuO/GNSs as LIB anodes exhibit much higher cyclability and capacity than CuO nanostructures. • Such excellent performances can be attributed to the synergistic effect between CuO and GNSs. -- Abstract: CuO/graphene nanocomposites are synthesized by a hydrothermal method, and their application as anodes of lithium-ion batteries has been investigated. CuO nanorods are uniformly coating on the surface of graphene nanosheets. CuO/graphene nanocomposites exhibit high cyclability and capacity. After 50 cycles, the capacity can maintain at 692.5 mA h g−1 at 0.1 C rate (10 h per half cycle). Such a high performance can be attributed to the synergistic effect between graphene nanosheets and CuO nanorods. The present results indicate that CuO/graphene nanocomposites have potential applications in the anodes of lithium-ion battery