Densely pillared holey-graphene block with high-level nitrogen doping enabling ultra-high volumetric capacity for lithium ion storage

Developing high volumetric capacity and long cycle-life anode materials for high-performance lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) still remains a great challenge. Herein, densely pillared holey-graphene block with high N-doping (P-NHG) has been successfully synthesized through thermal decomposition of (NH4)(6)Mo2O24 in-between stacked GO sheets. The dense graphene building block processes a high packing density of 2.53 g cm(-3), high nitrogen doping (19.2 at%), numerous holes on the graphene sheet, and similar to 5 nm Mo2C nanoparticles as the pillars in-between the graphene sheets, facilitating rapid ion diffusion and storage and ensuring structural stability during Li ion storage. As a result, the P-NHG electrode can deliver high gravimetric capacity of 1221 mAh g(-1 )and ultrahigh volumetric capacity of 3089 mAh cm(-3) at 0.1 A g(-1), as well as excellent cyclability (713 mAh g(-1)/1803 mAh cm(-3) after 300 cycles at 0.5 A g(-1)). The novel design of densely pillared holey-structure materials represents greatly improved properties such as superior cyclability, and high volumetric capacity for LIBs. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.