Silver nanorods attached to graphene sheets as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries

We employed a homogenizing method to disperse silver nanorods onto graphene nanosheets (GNs) in liquid phase, forming a three-dimensional Ag/GN framework. The Ag/GN hybrid material was used to investigate Li-ion insertion/extraction properties. A microwave-assisted polyol approach was adopted to synthesize highly crystalline Ag nanorods. The as-prepared Ag/GN hybrid anode shows improved Li-storage capacity, excellent rate capability, and good cycling stability, as compared with the pure GN anode. The hybrid anode offers a reversible capacity of 1015 mAhg−1 at 0.1C and a high capacity retention of 64.1% based on the capacity ratio at 5 C–0.1C rates. The enhancement of anode performance can be attributed to an increased electrode conductivity and interlayer distance due to the insertion of metallic Ag nanorods onto a percolated GN network, thus preventing the re-stacking of graphene sheets.