Plasma-Treated NiO/Graphene Nanocomposite as High Performance Anode Material of Lithium-Ion Battery

NiO/graphene nanocomposites are synthesized by hydrothermal method and then treated with capacitive coupled plasma (CCP) treatment. As the anode material of lithium-ion battery, the specific capacity of NiO/graphene nanocomposites is 600 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.25 C (4 h per half cycle). After being treated with CCP discharge, the capacity increases to 700 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.25 C. The rate capability has also significant improvement through CCP treatment. As the current rate increases to 2 C, the specific capacity maintains 300 mAh g⁻¹, two times higher than the sample without CCP treatment. The improvement of the plasma treated material is attributed to the fact that the high-energy particles generated by plasma discharge can impact the clusters of atoms to make a uniform distribution. The plasma discharge also improves the chemical activity of the material and lead to a better electrochemical performance. The results indicate that CCP-treated nanocomposites are good candidates for high-performance lithium-ion battery.