Hydrazine hydrate-induced hydrothermal synthesis of MnFe2O4 nanoparticles dispersed on graphene as high-performance anode material for lithium ion batteries

Abstract Herein, a MnFe 2 O 4 /graphene (MnFe 2 O 4 /G) nanocomposite has been synthesized via a facile N 2 H 4 ·H 2 O-induced hydrothermal method. During the synthesis, N 2 H 4 ·H 2 O is employed to not only reduce graphene oxide to graphene, but also prevent the oxidation of Mn 2+ in alkaline aqueous solution, thus ensuring the formation of MnFe 2 O 4 /G. Moreover, MnFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles (5–20 nm) are uniformly anchored on graphene. MnFe 2 O 4 /G electrode delivers a large reversible capacity of 768 mA h g −1 at 1 A g −1 after 200 cycles and high rate capability of 517 mA h g −1 at 5 A g −1 . MnFe 2 O 4 /G holds great promise as anode material in practical applications due to the outstanding electrochemical performance combined with the facile synthesis strategy.