In situ lithium intercalation of carbon nanorods using flame synthesis

Intercalation of nanocarbons with alkali earth metals like, K, Mg, Li is known to enhance overall gravimetric hydrogen storage to 10–15 wt.%, which has great potential for application in energy systems. In this paper we report the lithium intercalation of carbon nanorods by an in situ method using meth-oxy-acetylene flames in the presence of lithium acetate as a precursor, under atmospheric conditions. The morphological analysis of carbon nanomaterials using SEM and TEM suggested that they have diameter around 50–200 nm. XRD studies indicated the presence of lithium carbide (LiC) peak systems and crystal configurations, which are typical chemical signatures of lithium interaction with carbon and oxygen at high temperatures. Raman spectroscopy analysis revealed that the lithium ions attack the inner edges of the planar structure resulting in the formation of the surface buds which increases the width of the D band and the downward shift in G band.