Ultrahigh-capacity tetrahydroxybenzoquinone grafted graphene material as a novel anode for lithium-ion batteries

Organic compound has enormous potential to serve as a new electrode material in Li-ion batteries (LIBs) owing to their low cost, flexibility and sustainability of naturally abundant elements. Unfortunately, their intrinsic high solubility and low electrical conductivity limit the large-scale application in LIBs. To conquer these pivotal issues, we firstly synthesize a novel organic molecule grafted graphene anode material tetrahydroxybenzoquinone ‒ graphene oxide (THBQ-GO) and the composite is confirmed through Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) etc. analyses. The optimized THBQ-GO electrode shows high electronic conductivity, low solubility and superior electrochemical capability. It delivers a storage capacity of 1075.9 mAh g−1 at 0.05 A g−1 and retains 88.9% over 100 cycles, manifesting good cycling stability. When cycling at 1.0 A g−1, it still presents 359.4 mAh g−1 over 2000 cycles. Then, the electrochemical mechanisms for the high capability of the optimized THBQ-GO electrode are discussed in detail through ex-situ FT-IR and XPS analyses. This work provides a new perspective to design an organic molecule grafted graphene material for advanced LIBs with high-power properties. [Display omitted]