Adding CNTs into Anthracite towards High Performance Anode Materials for Lithium Ion Batteries

Commercial graphite anodes face the problems of high preparation temperature and limited specific capacity in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Amorphous carbon anode materials are prepared at low temperatures and have abundant sources and modes of preparation. As a low-cost carbon source material, anthracite has a practical application value in storing lithium as anode electrodes of LIBs. However, the capacity is not enough to meet the present increasing demand. We added CNTs to enhance the performance of anthracite-based carbon anodes. The addition of CNTs significantly improves the electrical properties of amorphous carbon anode materials due to their good electronic conductivity. This anthracite-based carbon with CNTs (A−C) anode displays a specific cycling capacity of 360 mAh ⋅ g⁻¹ at the current density of 200 mA ⋅ g⁻¹ after 200 cycles in LIBs. We believe that the work has far-reaching significance for improving the practicability of amorphous carbon anode materials.