A facile hydrazine-assisted hydrothermal method for the deposition of monodisperse SnO ₂ nanoparticles onto graphene for lithium ion batteries

In this manuscript, we introduce a facile hydrothermal method for the controlled growth of SnO ₂ nanoparticles onto graphene oxide. Hydrazine plays a fundamental role in controlling the formation and crystallization of SnO ₂ nanoparticles, and the reduction of graphene oxide to graphene. The SnO ₂-graphene composite consists of 3-4 nm monodisperse SnO ₂ nanocrystals homogeneously dispersed at the surface of graphene. It is demonstrated that the composite can accommodate the large volume change of SnO ₂ which occurs during lithiation-delithiation cycles. When used as an anode material for lithium ion batteries, it exhibits a first discharge capacity of 1662 mA h g ^-1, which rapidly stabilizes and still remains at 626 mA h g ^-1 even after 50 cycles, when cycled at a current density of 100 mA g ^-1. Even at the very high current density of 3200 mA g ^-1, the composite displays a stable capacity of 383 mA h g ^-1 after 50 cycles.