Non-graphitizable resin coating on polyacrylonitrile-based polyHIPE to prepare high surface area graphitic carbon foam and the investigation of its electrochemical performance as an anode of lithium-ion batteries

Abstract

A novel facile route was proposed for low-temperature stabilization of polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based polyHIPE polymers to prepare high surface area graphitic carbon foam (CF) under mild carbonization conditions. In this respect, poly(acrylonitrile-co-divinylbenzene) foams with a distinctive microstructure of polyHIPE foams were coated by a non-graphitizable resin to eliminate the complicated and high-temperature stabilization process before pyrolysis. The prepared nanoporous CFs were characterized by different techniques including nitrogen sorption analysis, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM). Experimental results revealed that the proposed strategy successfully preserved the foam framework and porosity shape after pyrolysis at 900 °C. The prepared CFs exhibited a high BET specific surface area and a pore volume of 879 m2 g−1 and 0.59 cm3 g−1, respectively. The Raman spectroscopy and HR-TEM results confirmed the successful stabilization and the formation of graphitic domains in the CFs. The obtained CFs when utilized as an anode of Li-ion batteries (LIBs), and showed improved rate capabilities compared to a commercial graphite anode and stable cycle performance up to several hundred cycles. The results revealed the potential applications of the prepared CFs in the batteries specialized for high-power devices.