Co₃O₄-reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite synthesized by microwave-assisted hydrothermal process for Li-ion batteries

A nanocomposite of Co₃O₄ and reduced graphene oxide (Co₃O₄-rGO) was successfully synthesized as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries by a one-pot microwave-assisted hydrothermal process. In the nanocomposite, Co₃O₄ nanoparticles with narrow size distribution in the range of 10–30 nm uniformly decorated the surface of rGO, indicating that rGO could act as a two-dimensional template for the heterogeneous precipitation of Co₃O₄ nanoparticles. To investigate the effect of mass ratios of Co₃O₄ and rGO on the electrochemical properties, the Co₃O₄ loading in the nanocomposite was controlled during the microwave-assisted hydrothermal synthesis. The resulting nanocomposite electrode exhibited high electrochemical performance in terms of specific capacity and cyclability, indicating that rGO served as an efficient template material to provide a highly conducting and buffering network for Co₃O₄ nanoparticles.