Assembling and nanocutting graphene/CNT sponge for improved lithium-ion batteries

Graphene-based materials have exhibited high potential for applications in the field of energy generation and storage because of its high surface area and porosity. Herein, we present a facile strategy to assemble graphene/carbon nanotubes into well-dispersed three-dimensional sponge and subsequently cut nano-scale pores via nickel nanoparticles for enhancing anode’s performance in lithium-ion batteries. Our characterizations reveal that the hybrid aerogels exhibit a lot of nanoscale channels and pores due to the Ni-nanocutting process, resulting in an improved specific surface area 254 m2/g in contrast with 187 m2/g for the pristine materials. The hybrid aerogels are subsequently used as anode for lithium-ion battery and exhibit a greatly improved performance after nanocutting treatment. Meanwhile, the specific capacity of supercapacitor with the Ni-cutting aerogel electrode can achieve as high as 475 F/g, which is almost 68 times than that of the pure material (7 F/g). This route may open a facile engineering way to produce porous and high performance electrode for specific electrochemical applications.