Nitrogen-rich graphene from small molecules as high performance anode material

Abstract

Nitrogen-rich graphene sheets were successfully achieved via facile thermal condensation of glucose and dicyandiamide at different temperatures during which dicyandiamide acts both as nitrogen source and sacrifice template. Devoid of surfactants or poisonous organic solvents, this small-molecule synthetic approach is a simple and cost-effective way to obtain nitrogen-rich graphene sheets (NRGS) with high specific surface area and large pore volume. Shown to be a promising anode material, the NRGS displayed high reversible capacity, excellent rate capability, and superior cycle performance. The superior lithium-storage performance is ascribed to the unique features of NRGS, including a large quantity of defects due to the high nitrogen doping level, favorable lithium ion transportation channels by virtue of the large surface area, and ultrahigh pore volume, as well as the crumpled two-dimensional structure.