Fabrication of 3-Dimensional Porous Graphene Materials for Lithium Ion Batteries

Abstract

A 3-dimensional porous graphene material (PGM) has been synthesized using a simple two-step process: hydrothermal reaction and calcination. Hydrothermal reaction of graphene oxide (GO) in the presence of resorcinol and glutaraldehyde leads to covalent grafting of partially reduced GO with glutaraldehyde and the deposition of phenolic resin. Subsequent calcination of the composite consisting of phenolic resin deposited on partially reduced GO in the presence of KOH produces structurally stable, highly porous graphene material with a specific surface area of ∼1,066±2m2g−1. When used as an active electrode material in a lithium battery, the PGM exhibits an initial discharge capacity of ∼1,538 mAh g−1, which is significantly higher than those of graphite and other carbonaceous materials reported previously. More importantly, when cycled at higher discharge/charge rates, the PGM-based electrodes still deliver large capacities and excellent cycling performance, demonstrating great potential for high-performance lithium-ion batteries. The attractive electrochemical performance of the PGM is attributed to its unique porous structure with large specific surface area and the presence of more disordered carbon atoms produced by the KOH activation.