Synthesis and characterization of three-dimensional carbon nanostructures as anode material in lithium ion battery

Abstract

This paper reports three-dimensional carbon nanostructures anchored with nickel nanoparticles as anode materials for lithium ion batteries. The three-dimensional carbon nanostructures were prepared by microwave assisted thermal methods using nickel nanoparticles as the metal catalysts. The formation mechanism of the three-dimensional carbon nanostructures sequentially involved the uniform distribution of nickel nanoparticles on graphene layers, followed by growth of carbon nanotubes anchored with the nickel nanoparticles and the completion of the synthesis of the three-dimensional structures consisting of whole graphene layers covered with carbon nanotube forests. This unique structure showed positive effects as an anode material both in terms of the capacity resulting from the high absolute surface area and in terms of the stability originating from the minimum re-stacking of the graphene layers. The incorporation of graphene and carbon nanotubes increased the high surface to volume ratio and porosity, which increased the sizes of the activation sites and contact area of the anode, resulting in the enhancement of the electronic transport and Li+ migration. The novel synthetic methods proposed and the exceptional characteristics of three-dimensional carbon nanostructures make these materials highly potential candidates that can be applied in future energy storage systems.