Highly Exfoliated and Functionalized Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes as Fast-Charging, High-Capacity Cathodes for Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Batteries

Compared with traditional metal-oxide lithium-ion battery (LIB) cathodes, nanocarbon-based cathode materials have received much attention for potential application in LIBs because of their superior power density and long-term cyclability. However, their lithium-ion storage capacity needs further improvement for practical applications, and the trade-off between capacity and conductivity, when oxygen functional groups as lithium-ion storage sites are introduced to the nanocarbon materials, needs to be addressed. Here, we report a sequential oxidation–reduction process for the synthesis of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) for LIB cathodes with fast charging, long-term cyclability, and high gravimetric capacity. A LIB cathode based on highly exfoliated (d bundle < 10 nm) and oxygen-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes is obtained via the modified Brodie’s method using fuming nitric acid and a mild oxidant (B-SWCNTs). Post treatment including horn sonication and hydrogen thermal reduction developed surface defects and removed the unnecessary C–O groups, resulting in an increase in the Li-ion storage capacity. The B-SWCNTs exhibit a high reversible gravimetric capacity of 344 mA h g–1 at 0.1 A g–1 without noticeable capacity fading after 1000 cycles. Furthermore, it delivers a high gravimetric energy density of 797 W h kgelectrode –1 at a low gravimetric power density of 300 W kgelectrode –1 and retains its high gravimetric energy density of ∼100 W h kgelectrode –1 at a high gravimetric power of 105 W kgelectrode –1. These results suggest that the highly exfoliated, oxygen-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes can be applied to LIBs designed for high-rate operations and long cycling.