Graphene is a single-atom-thick two-dimensional graphitic carbon material, which possesses extraordinary

large surface area and chemical stability [14]. Recently, graphene has been used as an excellent substance to acquire variously functional nanomaterials, including graphene-silver nanoparticles [15], graphene-gold nanoparticles [16], graphene-TiO2 nanomaterials [17], and graphene-palladium nanoparticles [18]. Recently, some works have reported about synthetizing and studying the electrochemical performance of graphene mixed Ku-0059436 chemical structure with Ge nanomaterials [19–23]. For instance, Cheng and Du [22] reported the synthesis of graphene-Ge nanocomposites from expensive GeCl4 and graphene oxide as precursor. Although the nanocomposites exhibited a high specific capacity as anode materials for lithium ion batteries (LIBs), this strategy did not acquire a material with long cycle life. Ren et al. [23] reported Navitoclax in vivo the synthesis of graphene-Ge nanocomposite by chemical vapor deposition (CVD),

which exhibited a good capacity retention behavior and long cycle life as anode materials. However, the strategy did not provide a facile route for synthesis. Moreover, the loss of stability and electrochemical properties often inevitably occurred due to irreversible agglomeration and poor dispersions of graphene-Ge nanocomposites in aqueous solution. Therefore, it was important to find a new synthesized method to prepare water-dispersable Ge nanocomposites with excellent electrical properties. Herein, we demonstrate a simple and mild method to fabricate the RGO-GeNPs in aqueous solution. Stable aqueous dispersions of nanocomposites were synthesized by the reduction of exfoliated graphite oxide and GeO2 precursor.

Poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS) was employed to obtain aqueous dispersibility of PSS-RGO-GeNPs, which was hopeful to further improve its electrochemical properties. The study provided a strategy to synthetize RGO-GeNPs which could be served as promising anode materials for LIBs. Methods Materials All reagents in this work were of analytical grade and were used as received without further purification. GeO2, PSS (analytically pure), and graphite powders (spectral pure) were purchased from Sinopharm Chemical Reagent Beijing Co. NaBH4, the reducing agent, was obtained from Aladdin Chemical Co., Ltd. (China). All the aqueous Alectinib mouse solutions were prepared with double-distilled water. Preparation of RGO-GeNPs and PSS-RGO-GeNPs Graphene oxide (GO) was prepared by oxidizing natural graphite powder based on a modified Hummers and Offeman method [24] as originally presented by Kovtyukhova et al. [25]. The RGO-GeNPs were synthesized by the following method:10 mL of as-prepared GO supernatant (20 mg/mL) was distributed in 40 mL of ultrapure water to obtain a homogeneous, stable dispersion with the aid of ultrasonication in a water bath (KQ218, 60 W), named ‘A solution’. A 0.08 g GeO2 was dissolved completely in 10 mL 0.