Preparation of nanoporous graphene sheets via free radical oxidation of graphene oxide and their application in lithium ion battery

Graphene is an attractive candidate for use as an electrode material in electrochemical energy storage due to its unique structure and excellent properties. Compared with graphene, nanoporous graphene is a superior electrode material, owing to the porous structure of its graphene sheets, which facilitates cross-plane lithium ion transportation and provides more binding sites for the lithium ions during the lithiation/delithiation process. In this work, we demonstrate a simple and efficient strategy for obtaining nanoporous graphene on a large scale. Nanoporous graphene can be generated through the oxidation of graphene oxide by H2O2 under high-power UV irradiation with a subsequent reduction process. The morphology, chemical composition and defects of the as-generated nanoporous graphene were studied. The electrochemical evaluation of the nanoporous graphene sheets showed that it delivered higher specific capacity and better charge/discharge rate capability compared with chemically reduced graphene sheets for use as an anode material in lithium ion batteries.