Reduced graphene oxide anchored with MnO2 nanorods as anode for high rate and long cycle Lithium ion batteries

Abstract The utilization of MnO 2 based anode materials is limited by poor cycling performance and low rate capacity due to chemical and mechanical degradations upon cycling. In this work, an effective strategy is implemented to mitigate the capacity fading of MnO 2 at high rates by anchoring MnO 2 nanorods on the surface of graphene. The intimate contact with graphene significantly improves the electrical conductivity of the MnO 2 composites materials. Moreover, graphene can buffer the volume changes of MnO 2 during the lithium insertion/extraction process. The MnO 2 /rGO composites exhibit a superior cycling performance and lithium-storage capacity. Under the current density of 0.5 A g −1 , the MnO 2 /rGO composites electrode could deliver reversible capacity as high as 600.3 mAh g −1 after more than 650 cycles. Furthermore, at a high rate of 5 A g −1 , the MnO 2 /rGO composites electrode can still deliver reversible specific capacity of 168.2 mAh g −1 .