Green Synthesis of a Reduced-Graphene-Oxide Wrapped Nickel Oxide Nano-Composite as an Anode For High-Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries

Aeschynomene aspera (AA) plant, a sustainable, waste natural carbon source, is used towards green and scalable synthesis of carbon two-dimensional materials by simply altering the heating temperature and its composites with nickel oxide (NiO) are fabricated as an anode for high-performance lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Interestingly, a wide range of carbon materials (amorphous carbon, graphene-oxide (GO), and reduced-graphene-oxide(RGO)) can be synthesized from this carbon source that can be used in different applications. Among them, GO synthesized at 500 degrees C shows best lithium storage properties. While incase of composite the RGO-NiO fabricated using heated AA plant, at 1000 degrees C shows excellent lithium storage properties. The RGO-NiO composite exhibits reversible specific discharge capacity of 847 mAh g(-1) at 100 mA g(-1) and an excellent rate capability up to 1000 mA g(-1). In addition, ex-situ XRD and XPS measurements reveal reversible nature of the conversion reaction occurring in the composite electrodes.