Monodisperse sandwich-like coupled quasi-graphene sheets encapsulating ni2 p nanoparticles for enhanced lithium-ion batteries.

In this report, sandwiched Ni2 P nanoparticles encapsulated by graphene sheets are first synthesized by directly encapsulating functional units in graphene sheets instead of fabricating separate graphene sheets and then immobilizing the functional components onto the generated surfaces. In this strategy, we use low-cost, sustainable and environmentally friendly glucose as a carbon source and NiNH4 PO4 ⋅H2 O nanosheets as sacrificial templates. This unique structure obtained here cannot only prevent the nanoparticles from aggregation or loss but also enhance the electronic conductivity compared to the independent nanoparticles. Furthermore, the novel sandwich-like Ni2 P/C can be applied in plenty of fields, especially in electrical energy storage. In this paper, a series of electrochemical tests of the sandwich-like Ni2 P/C are carried out, which demonstrate the excellent cyclic stability and rate capacity for lithium-ion batteries.