A comparative study on electrochemical performances of the electrodes with different nanocarbon conductive additives for lithium ion batteries

• Three carbon materials were used as additives in the electrodes of Li ion battery.
• The electrochemical performances of the electrodes were comparatively investigated.
• The carbon additives have a significant impact on the electrode performance.
• RGO additive acts as a bridge to form a “plane-to-point” conducting network.
• The electrode with RGO exhibits better performance than those with other additives.

Three nanocarbon materials (0 D acetylene black (AB), 1 D carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and 2 D reduced graphene oxide (RGO)) were used as conductive additives (CAs) in the mesocarbon microbead anodes for lithium ion batteries. The electrochemical performances of the electrodes were investigated. The results show that the CAs have a significant impact on the electrode performance because they can influence the electron conduction and lithium ion transportation within the electrode. The electrode with RGO achieves a maximum capacity of 387 mAh g−1 after 50 cycles at a current density of 50 mA g−1, much higher than those of the electrodes with AB (334 mAh g−1) and CNTs (319 mAh g−1). The improvement should be mainly ascribed to the “plane-to-point” conducting network formed in the electrode with 2 D RGO which can favor the electron conduction and enhance the lithium ion transportation.