Amorphous N-rich organic polymer/carbon nanotube composites as effective anode material for advanced lithium ion batteries

Amorphous N-rich porous organic polymer (SNW-1) was composited, respectively, with carboxylic carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene (GE) through in situ synthesis, to construct new composites possessing both covalent porous network and enhanced conductivity. When used as anode of lithium ion batteries, the obtained chemically bonded SNW-1/CNTs composite exhibits a capacity of 203 mA h g(-1) at a current of 0.5 C after 1000 cycles, which is much higher than that of SNW-1/GE (72 mA h g(-1)) and pristine SNW-1 (73 mA h-g(-1)). This is interpreted in terms of different interaction between two components of composites. The chemical bonding of SNW-1/CNTs facilitates the heterogeneous charge transfer much more than the non-chemical interaction of SNW-1/GE, and thus gives a better electrochemical performance than the latter. This work provides a promising strategy to design organic polymer/carbonaceous materials composite for high-performance electrode.