Effects of Nano Carbon Conductive Additives on the Electrochemical Performance of LiCoO2 Cathode for Lithium Ion Batteries

Carbon black(CB), multi-walled carbon nanotubes(CNTs) and graphene nanosheets(GNs) were employed as carbon conductive additives for LiCoO2(LCO). X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to characterize the crystal structure and morphology of samples. And the specific surface area and porosity structure of the three kinds of carbon conductive additives were measured by N-2 adsorption-desorption. To investigate the effect on the electrochemicdl reaction activity, galvanostatic discharge-charge experiments showed that the composite of LCO-GNs exhibited the highest specific capacity of 167mAh/g at 0.1C and 123 mAh/g at 1 C rate. The flexible wrapping of GNs and bridging nearby LCO particles together were found to enhance electrical conductivity most effectively.