Rational synthesis of graphene-encapsulated uniform MnMoO4 hollow spheres as long-life and high-rate anodes for lithium-ion batteries.

In this manuscript, the graphene-encapsulated MnMoO4 hollow spheres (MnMoO4@G) synthesized by an effective strategy were reported. Benefiting from the intriguing hybrid architecture of hollow structure and conductive graphene network, the MnMoO4@G composite displays superior electrochemical performance with high specific capacity of 1142 mA h g-1, high reversible cycling stability of 921 mA h g-1 at a current density of 100 mA g-1 after 70 cycles, and stable rate performance (around 513 mA h g-1 at a current density of 4.0 A g-1). The remarkable battery performance can be attributed to the rational design of the architecture, which not only ensures the fast transport of electrons and lithium ions within the electrode material, but also effectively relax the stress induced by the insertion/extraction of lithium ions. This facile synthetic method can extend to other transition metal oxides with large volume excursions and poor electric conductivity and promotes the development of transition metal oxides as high-performance LIB anode material.