Polythiophene/Carbon Microsphere Composite as a High-performance Cathode Material for Aluminium-ion Batteries

Abstract

Due to the high theoretical volume specific capacity and mass specific capacity of aluminum-ion batteries, they can meet the needs of contemporary society for high-performance energy storage devices, and have attracted a lot of research strength. Cathode materials are a key issue limiting the development of aluminum-ion batteries. Herein, polythiophene was prepared on the surface of carbon microspheres by in-situ oxidative polymerization, resulting in polythiophene carbon microsphere composite materials. It exhibits excellent electrochemical performance, as a cathode material for aluminum-ion batteries, in terms of a high specific capacity (106 mAh g−1 at a current density of 1 A g−1), good stability (maintaining 58 % of initial capacity after 10000 cycles) and excellent rate performance (90 mAh g−1 at a high current density of 3.5 A g−1).