Catkin-Derived N-Rich Carbon Nanotube as an Anode Material for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are widely used as a new generation of high-efficiency energy storage batteries because of superior specific energy, excellent cycle life, and low self-discharge rate. Commercial graphite is currently the mainstream anode material for LIBs, but graphite's limitations hinder the development of LIBs. Because of environmental friendliness, high efficiency and low cost, biomass carbon is expected to replace graphite as the next generation of anode materials for LIBs. In this paper, N-doped catkin carbon nanotubes (CCNT) were prepared by high-temperature carbonization method using catkin as precursor. CCNT provides more active sites and lower impedance, favoring Li
⁺
storage and transport. In addition, N-doped improves the conductivity and electrochemical stability of CCNT. Therefore, CCNT-based LIBs exhibits excellent cycling and rate performance, providing a new option for realizing high-performance and low-cost LIBs.