Abstract
A hierarchical mesoporous carbon foam (ECF) with an interconnected micro-/mesoporous architecture was prepared and used as a binder-free, low-cost, high-performance anode for lithium ion batteries. Due to its high specific surface area (980.6 m2/g), high porosity (99.6%), light weight (5 mg/cm3) and narrow pore size distribution (~2 to 5 nm), the ECF anode exhibited a high reversible specific capacity of 455 mAh/g. Experimental results also demonstrated that the anode thickness significantly influence the specific capacity of the battery. Meanwhile, the ECF anode retained a high rate performance and an excellent cycling performance approaching 100% of its initial capacity over 300 cycles at 0.1 A/g. In addition, no binders, carbon additives or current collectors are added to the ECF based cells that will increase the total weight of devices. The high electrochemical performance was mainly attributed to the combined favorable hierarchical structures which can facilitate the Li+ accessibility and also enable the fast diffusion of electron into the electrode during the charge and discharge process. The synthesis process used to make this elastic carbon foam is readily scalable to industrial applications in energy storage devices such as li-ion battery and supercapacitor.
Highlights
Carbon based materials including carbon nanotubes (CNTs), carbon nanofibers (CNFs), carbon foam (CF) and graphene nanosheets have attracted considerable attention in recent years by virtue of their high specific surface area, superior electrical conductivity and excellent thermal stability[9,10,11,12]
As we have reported previously[19], an elastic carbon foam (ECF) was synthesized by a simple two-step process
We focused on the 1000 °C-ECF electrode for use in LIBs
Summary
Zhengping Zhou[1], Hua Zhang[2], Yan Zhou[2], Hui Qiao[3], Ashim Gurung[1], Roya Naderi[1], Hytham Elbohy[1], Alevtina L. A hierarchical mesoporous carbon foam (ECF) with an interconnected micro-/mesoporous architecture was prepared and used as a binder-free, low-cost, high-performance anode for lithium ion batteries. The synthesis process used to make this elastic carbon foam is readily scalable to industrial applications in energy storage devices such as li-ion battery and supercapacitor. The increasing demand of high power density, low cost, fast charge/discharge rates and long life cycles together with light weight and flexibility requirements are driving further improvements in the LIB technology[5]. The ECF possess unique properties including excellent electrical conductivity, thermal properties and high specific surface area, ultrahigh porosity (99.6%) and low density (5 mg/cm[3]). The integration of ECF in advanced electrochemical electrical energy storage devices, such as batteries, supercapacitors, and solar cells, may provide a solution to meet the consumer and industrial demands for lightweight, flexible and long-lasting energy applications. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) tests were conducted on amplitude of 5 mV over the frequency in the range of 100 kHz–1 Hz
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