Improved sodium storage properties of nickel sulfide nanoparticles decorated on reduced graphene oxide nanosheets as an advanced anode material

Abstract

For sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), fabricating nanocrystal anode materials have been identified as a satisfactory strategy to improve electrochemical performance and maintain structural integrity of electrodes. However, the issues of agglomeration and serious volume variation have been always existed in the process of charging/discharging for anode materials. In this work, a series of composites of nickel sulfide nanoparticles decorated on reduced graphene oxide nanosheets (denoted as NiS2@rGO) were successfully synthesized via simple one-step hydrothermal method under different temperatures. The strategy of confining nickel sulfide nanoparticles within the interlayer of graphene nanosheets can not only avoid the agglomeration, but also alleviate the volume change to some extent for electrode materials. For sodium ion storage, the NiS2@rGO synthesized at 160 oC exhibited a higher reversible capacity and better rate capability.