Red phosphorus decorated electrospun carbon anodes for high efficiency lithium ion batteries

Francesco Liberale,Michele Fiore,Riccardo Ruffo,Roberto Bernasconi,Seimei Shiratori,Luca Magagnin

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-70240-6

Francesco Liberale, Michele Fiore + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-70240-6

Copy DOI

Abstract

Electrospinning is a powerful and versatile technique to produce efficient, specifically tailored and high-added value anodes for lithium ion batteries. Indeed, electrospun carbon nanofibers (CNFs) provide faster intercalation kinetics, shorter diffusion paths for ions/electrons transport and a larger number of lithium insertion sites with respect to commonly employed powder materials. With a view to further enhance battery performances, red phosphorous (RP) is considered one of the most promising materials that can be used in association with CNFs. RP/CNFs smart combinations can be exploited to overcome RP low conductivity and large volume expansion during cycling. In this context, we suggest a simple and cost effective double-step procedure to obtain high-capacity CNFs anodes and to enhance their electrochemical performances with the insertion of red phosphorous in the matrix. We propose a simple dropcasting method to confine micro- and nanosized RP particles within electrospun CNFs, thus obtaining a highly efficient, self-standing, binder-free anode. Phosphorous decorated carbon mats are characterized morphologically and tested in lithium ion batteries. Results obtained demonstrate that the reversible specific capacity and the rate capability of the obtained composite anodes is significantly improved with respect to the electrospun carbon mat alone.

Highlights

Electrospinning is a powerful and versatile technique to produce efficient, tailored and high-added value anodes for lithium ion batteries
Many other works concerning self-standing, binder- and current collector-free electrospun anodes, of carbon-based fibrous mat alone[41] or with metals[42], metal oxides[43,44,45,46,47] and metal sulphides[48,49,50,51] encapsulated in the electrospun carbon nanofibers (CNFs) are available. Another class of materials which have been selected as potential candidates as anodes for Li-ion batteries (LIBs) comprises silicon52, germanium[53,54], and phosphorous, which can be alloyed with Li
PAN electrospinning and subsequent carbonization. Their microstructure is well known from the existing literature, where analogous CNFs have been characterized with XRD or Raman spectroscopy

Summary

Introduction

Electrospinning is a powerful and versatile technique to produce efficient, tailored and high-added value anodes for lithium ion batteries. Many other works concerning self-standing, binder- and current collector-free electrospun anodes, of carbon-based fibrous mat alone[41] or with metals[42], metal oxides[43,44,45,46,47] and metal sulphides[48,49,50,51] encapsulated in the electrospun CNFs are available Another class of materials which have been selected as potential candidates as anodes for LIBs comprises silicon52, germanium[53,54], and phosphorous, which can be alloyed with Li. Phosphorus, in particular, is abundant and uniformly distributed in the earth’s c rust[55,56,57]; being one of the main biomass constituents, can be recycled with no environmental c oncerns[55]. Li et al.[69] used electrospinning technique to create a non-woven mat made of carbonized polymer with embedded confined RP nanoparticles, obtaining fast ion and electron transfer through the 3D network

Methods

Results

Conclusion