Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Electrospun Carbon Nanofibers Decorated With Various Amounts Of Electrochemically-Inert Nickel Nanoparticles For Use As High-Performance Energy Storage Materials, Liwen Ji, Zhan Lin, Mataz Alcoutlabi, Ozan Toprakci, Yingfang Yao, Guanjie Xu, Shuli Li, Xiangwu Zhang

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Carbon nanofibers decorated with various amounts of electrochemically-inert metallic nickel nanoparticles are synthesized through electrospinning and carbonization processes. The morphology and composition of Ni nanoparticles in carbon nanofibers are controlled by preparing different nanofiber precursors. The lithium-ion battery performance evaluations indicated that the content of electrochemically-inert Ni nanoparticles in carbon nanofibers has a great influence on the final electrochemical performance. For example, at certain Ni contents, these composite nanofibers display excellent electrochemical performance, such as high reversible capacities, good capacity retention, and excellent rate performance, when directly used as binder-free anodes for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. However, when the Ni content …