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Effects of different fabrication conditions on the performance of free-standing carbon nanofiber cathodes in lithium–oxygen batteries

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Abstract

This study focuses on the systematic development of free-standing mats consisting of nonwoven carbon nanofibers (CNFs) via electrospinning for a lithium–oxygen battery (LOB) cathode. Electrospun fiber mats prepared using a polyacrylonitrile polymer were carbonized to CNFs at various temperatures ranging from 800 to 1200 °C. The diameter of the CNFs was controlled from 500 to 100 nm. The graphitization degree of the CNFs increased with increasing carbonization temperatures and decreasing CNF diameters and, thus, generated a higher electrical conductivity. The electrochemical performance of CNF cathodes with the different physicochemical properties was systematically evaluated together with close observation of discharge products and gas analyses. The LOB cell using the CNF-100–1200 cathode, with the smallest diameter and highest graphitization degree, exhibited the interesting galvanostatic performance with specific capacity of 7832 mAh/g at 200 mA/g and a cycle stability of 173 cycles with a cut-off capacity of 1000 mAh/g at 500 mA/g among the samples.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology. This research was funded by Vietnam National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED) under grant number 103.99-2020.67.

Funding

This work was funded by National Foundation for Science and Technology Development, 103.99-2020.67, Hieu Trung Bui. This work was also supported by the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Advanced Energy Materials Research Center, Division of Advanced Materials, KRICT, 141 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34114, Republic of Korea

    Hieu Trung Bui, Tae Yeong Kim, Do Youb Kim, Dong Wook Kim, Jungdon Suk & Yongku Kang

  2. Department of Chemical Convergence Materials, University of Science and Technology (UST), 217 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34113, Republic of Korea

    Hieu Trung Bui, Dong Wook Kim, Jungdon Suk & Yongku Kang

  3. Hi-Tech Institute, Nguyen Tat Thanh University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

    Hieu Trung Bui

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  1. Hieu Trung Bui
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Contributions

HTB contributed to conceptualization, data curation, methodology, investigation, and writing-original draft. TYK contributed to investigation. DYK contributed to investigation, writing-original draft, writing-review & editing, and supervision. DWK contributed to investigation, data curation, and validation. JS contributed to validation. YK contributed to supervision, project administration, and funding acquisition.

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Correspondence to Do Youb Kim or Yongku Kang.

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Bui, H.T., Kim, T.Y., Kim, D.Y. et al. Effects of different fabrication conditions on the performance of free-standing carbon nanofiber cathodes in lithium–oxygen batteries. Journal of Materials Research 39, 535–547 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43578-023-01248-7

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