Rapid synthesis of free-standing MoO3/Graphene films by the microwave hydrothermal method as cathode for bendable lithium batteries

Highly flexible, binder-free, MoO3 nanobelt/graphene film electrode is prepared by a two-step microwave hydrothermal method. Graphene is first prepared by an ultra-fast microwave hydrothermal method and then mixed with MoO3 solution to synthesize the MoO3 nanobelt/graphene composite, which exhibits the combination of stacked graphene sheets and uniform MoO3 nanobelts with widths of 200-500 nm and lengths of 5-10 μm. The charge-discharge measurements show that the as-synthesized MoO3/graphene hybrid materials demonstrate excellent rate capability, large capacity, and good cycling stability compared to the pure MoO3 film. An initial discharge capacity of 291 mAh g-1 can be obtained at 100 mA g-1, with a capacity of 172 mAh g -1 retained after 100 cycles. The results show that the MoO 3/graphene designed in this study can be used as a free-standing cathode material in rechargeable bendable Lithium batteries. © 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.