Pore size-controlled synthesis of 3D hierarchical porous carbon materials for lithium-ion batteries

3D hierarchical porous carbons (3DCs) with different pore size distributions are prepared by using Ni(OH)₂ as template. The morphology, crystalline features, pore structure and surface composition of the hierarchical porous carbons are characterized using various analytic techniques including scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, N₂ physical adsorption, powder X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It is found that the pore size distributions of the 3DCs play an important role in the lithium-storage capacity when they are used as anode materials for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. The typical sample 3DC-20 has a specific reversible capacity of 630 mAh g^??1 in the first cycle and and 363 mAh g^??1 after 50 cycles. The high capacity of 3DC-20 can be attributed to the existence of the largest amount of micropores with 0.6–0.9 nm pore width, which increase the lithium storage capacity; in addition, the existence of mesoporous and macroporous effectively shortens the distance for charge diffusion, the turbostratic graphite structure low resistance for electron conduction.