Hierarchical and Heterogeneous Porosity Construction and Nitrogen Doping Enabling Flexible Carbon Nanofiber Anodes with High Performance for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Abstract

With the rapid development of flexible electronic devices, flexible lithium-ion batteries are widely considered due to their potential for high energy density and long life. Anode materials, as one of the key materials of lithium-ion batteries, need to have good flexibility, an excellent specific discharge capacity, and fast charge–discharge characteristics. Carbon fibers are feasible as candidate flexible anode materials. However, their low specific discharge capacity restricts their further application. Based on this, N-doped carbon nanofiber anodes with microporous, mesoporous, and macroporous structures are prepared in this paper. The hierarchical and heterogeneous porosity structure can increase the active sites of the anode material and facilitate the transport of ions, and N-doping can improve the conductivity. Moreover, the N-doped flexible carbon nanofiber with a porous structure can be directly used as the anode for lithium-ion batteries without adding an adhesive. It has a high first reversible capacity of 1108.9 mAh g−1, a stable cycle ability (954.3 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles), and excellent rate performance. This work provides a new strategy for the development of flexible anodes with high performance.