Columnar liquid-crystalline triazine-based dendrimer with carbon nanotube filler for efficient organic lithium-ion batteries

Owing to their highly tunable molecular structure and chemical stability, dendrimers consisting of triazine and piperazine moieties have been investigated. The present work describes the electrochemical performance of a columnar liquid-crystalline triazine-based dendrimer containing the linker with diaminopropane (DAP) as a lithium-ion battery anode. To elucidate the impact of conductive carbon filler in the electrode, a tiny amount of carbon nanotube (CNT) paper has been incorporated in the DAP anode. The battery performance revealed that the DAP anode has shown a high specific capacity of up to 444 mA h g(-1) at 0.5 A g(-1) after 200 cycles. Surprisingly, with an additional 1% CNT, the Li+ storage capacity of the dendrimer-based composite anode (DAP/ CNT1%) significantly enhanced up to 656 mA h g(-1). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that a triazine-based dendrimer has been utilized as an anode material in conjunction with a small amount of CNT to further boost its energy-storing capabilities through a synergy of capacitive storage mechanisms and improve Li+ transport. The efficient lithium storage of DAP/CNT composite further shows its amenability as organic electrode material for next-generation organic Li-ion batteries.

Automated summary

This study describes the electrochemical performance of a triazine-based dendrimer as a lithium-ion battery anode, and demonstrates that the addition of a small amount of carbon nanotube paper significantly enhances its energy-storing capabilities. The results showed that the specific capacity of the composite anode increased to 656 mA h g(-1) after adding 1% carbon nanotube.