Frontiers in Energy Research (Jan 2020)
Polyacrylonitrile Hard Carbon as Anode of High Rate Capability for Lithium Ion Batteries
Abstract
In order to develop new type of carbon anode material with high performance, a novel organic carbon material polyacrylonitrile (PAN) hard carbon was prepared by calcination of polypropylene cyanide at 1,050°C. The obtained PAN hard carbon is used as the negative electrode material of lithium ion battery, showing an initial capacity of 343.5 mAh g−1 which is equal to that of graphite electrode (348.6 mAh g−1), and a higher initial coulomb efficiency of 87.9% than that of graphite electrode (84.4%). Moreover, the PAN hard carbon electrode shows superior cycle stability and rate performance at different current rates. The charge capacities are 320.1, 219.0, 212.9, and 123.5 mAh g−1 at current rates of 0.2, 1, 2, and 3 C, with coulombic efficiencies of 98.1, 100.6, 88.1, and 110.0%, respectively, which are higher than those of graphite electrode (83.8, 97.6, 98.8, and 94.1%). In addition, the charging capacity of PAN hard carbon electrode can still remain at 284.3 mAh g−1 (0.2 C after 200 cycles), 226.4 mAh g−1 (1 C after 300 cycles), 149.5 mAh g−1 (2 C after 400 cycles), and 120.0 mAh g−1 (3 C after 100 cycles), with capacity retention rates of 78.2, 111.9, 79.7, and 88.6%, respectively. The capacity and capacity retention rate after cycling are significantly higher than those of graphite electrode, indicating that the PAN hard carbon electrode shows superior rate performance, which would provide a new idea for the development of novel negative electrode material with high performance.
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