Chemical vapor deposition growth of carbon nanotube confined nickel sulfides from porous electrospun carbon nanofibers and their superior lithium storage properties. Issue 2 (31st October 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, An; Xie, Sanmu; Zhang, Rong; She, Yiyi; Chen, Chuan; Leung, Micheal K. H.; Niu, Chunming; Wang, Hongkang
• Is Part Of: Nanoscale advances. Volume 1:Issue 2(2019)
• Page Start: 656
• Page End: 663
• Publication Date: 2018-10-31
• Subjects: 620.5
• DOI: 10.1039/c8na00234g
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2516-0230

Abstract

Abstract : Carbon-nanotube confined nickel sulfides grown on porous carbon nanofibers were prepared via an electrospinning-CVD method and showed superior lithium storage performance. Abstract : Multidimensional architecture design is a promising strategy to explore unique physicochemical characteristics by synergistically integrating different structural and compositional materials. Herein, we report the facile synthesis of a novel dendritic hybrid architecture, where carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with nickel sulfide nanoparticles encapsulated inside are epitaxially grown out of the porous electrospun N-doped carbon nanofibers (CNFs) (denoted as CNT@NS@CNFs) through a combined strategy of electrospinning and chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The adopted thiophene (C4 H4 S) not only serves as a carbon source for the growth of CNTs but also as a sulfur source for the sulfurization of Ni particles and S-doping into carbon matrices. When examined as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), the dendritic CNT@NS@CNFs display superior lithium storage properties including good cycle stability and high rate capability, delivering a high reversible capacity of 630 mA h g −1 at 100 mA g −1 after 200 cycles and 277 mA h g −1 at a high rate of 1000 mA g −1 . These outstanding electrochemical properties can be attributed to the novel hybrid architecture, in which the encapsulation of nickel sulfide nanoparticles within the CNT/CNFs not only efficiently buffers the volume changes upon lithiation/delithiation, but also facilitates charge transfer and electrolyte diffusion owing to the highly conductive networks with open frame structures.