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.