Flexible and crosslinking electrospun porous carbon nanofiber membranes as freestanding binder-free anodes for lithium-ion batteries

Electrospinning carbon nanofibers with one-dimensional nanostructures have enormous potential for electronic applications owing to their flexibility, electrical conductivity, high surface area and attractive structure. In this paper, porous nitrogen-doped carbon nanofiber membranes with chemical crosslinking structure (PNCNMs-CC) were prepared for lithium-ion batteries anodes by crosslinking treatment and carbonization process using polyimide as precursor, melamine as nitrogen source and ethyl orthosilicate as pore-forming agent. The heightened nitrogen content synergizes with the augmented specific surface area, engendering a striking electrochemical enhancement. Rich pore structure provides more active sites. When utilized as a binder-free, current collector-free anode, PNCNMs-CC shows an excellent rate performance and long cycle stability. The first discharge specific capacity of PNCNMs-CC delivered 710 mAh g−1 at 50 mA g−1. After 1000 cycles at a high current density of 1 A g−1, PNCNMs-CC shows 88 % capacity retention, demonstrating a promising candidate as the flexible anodes for high-performance energy storage devices.