Background

The unique electronic, mechanical and thermal properties of graphene make graphene coated inorganic nanoparticles very promising materials for the future. These hybrid nanoparticles can be used in sensors, as fuel cell catalysts, in photovoltaics and optoelectronics, and also as material for high performance battery electrodes.

For example Freddy Kleitz and Claudio Gerbaldi [1] recently described graphene-wrapped mesoporous Cu-Ni oxides that exhibit unprecedented electrochemical behavior, such as high reversible specific capacity, excellent coulombic efficiency and long-term stability at high current density.

In November 2017 a press release of Samsung [2] reported on so called “graphene balls”, a breakthrough battery material that enables a 45% increase in capacity, and five times faster charging speeds than standard lithium-ion batteries. The corresponding Nature