Centrifugally-spun tin-containing carbon nanofibers as anode material for lithium-ion batteries

Journal of Materials Science volume 50, pages1094–1102(2015)Cite this article

Abstract

Carbon nanofibers, due to their high electric conductivity and excellent mechanical strength, have been studied and applied in areas such as energy storage, tissue engineering, filtration, and catalysis. So far, carbon nanofibers have been mainly produced by electrospinning and subsequent heat treatments. However, the great difficulty of carbon nanofibers to be scaled up through electrospinning confines the productivity and practical application of this extensively investigated material category. Recently, centrifugal spinning has drawn attention due to its high production rate (500 times faster than traditional electrospinning), simple set-up, and ease of scaling-up. Herein, tin-containing carbon nanofibers were prepared by facile centrifugal spinning from tin chloride-polyacrylonitrile precursor solutions and subsequent thermal treatments. Polymer-salt-solvent relations and resultant rheological effects upon solution properties and fiber structures were discussed, and the performance of centrifugally spun tin-containing carbon nanofibers as anode material for lithium-ion batteries was evaluated. An excellent reversible capacity of 607 mAh g−1 was achieved at the initial cycle and a relatively high specific capacity of 430 mAh g−1 was maintained after 100 cycles. It is, therefore, demonstrated that centrifugal-spun tin-containing carbon nanofibers are promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries, and centrifugal spinning, as a nanofiber fabrication alternative to electrospinning, shows great potential in large-scale nanofiber production.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by National Science Foundation (CMMI-1231287). The authors thank Mr. Chuck Mooney in the Analytical Instrumentation Facility of North Carolina State University for taking the SEM and EDS tests.

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Affiliations

  1. Fiber and Polymer Science Program, Department of Textile Engineering, Chemistry and Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695-8301, USA

    Han Jiang, Yeqian Ge, Kun Fu, Yao Lu, Chen Chen, Jiadeng Zhu, Mahmut Dirican & Xiangwu Zhang

  2. Department of Textile Materials Science and Product Design, College of Textile, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, China

    Yeqian Ge

  3. Nano-Science and Nano-Engineering Program, Graduate School of Science, Engineering and Technology, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, 34469, Turkey

    Mahmut Dirican

Authors
  1. Han Jiang
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  2. Yeqian Ge
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  3. Kun Fu
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  4. Yao Lu
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  5. Chen Chen
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  6. Jiadeng Zhu
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  8. Xiangwu Zhang
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Correspondence to Xiangwu Zhang.

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Jiang, H., Ge, Y., Fu, K. et al. Centrifugally-spun tin-containing carbon nanofibers as anode material for lithium-ion batteries. J Mater Sci 50, 1094–1102 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-014-8666-5

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Keywords

  • Sodium Alginate
  • Precursor Solution
  • Anode Material
  • SnCl2
  • Coulombic Efficiency