Nitrogen-containing polymeric carbon as anode material for lithium ion secondary battery

Nitrogen-containing polymeric carbon as anode materials for the lithium ion secondary battery is prepared from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and melamine–formaldehyde resin (MF) at 600 and 800°C. Its physicochemical properties were investigated through elemental analysis, X-ray powder diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and measurement of specific surface area. Results show that this kind of carbon is amorphous. Nitrogen atoms exist in the prepared polymeric carbon mainly as two states, that is, graphene nitrogen and conjugated nitrogen, and favor the enhancement of reversible lithium capacity. All the prepared polymeric carbon has a reversible capacity higher than that of the theoretic value of graphite, 372 mAh/g, and the highest reversible capacity can be up to 536 mAh/g.