Silver-mediated calcium terephthalate with enhanced electronic conductivity as an organic anode for efficient Li-ion batteries

Abstract

Ag particles were selectively added into the organic anode material of calcium terephthalate (CaTP) to improve its electronic conductivity, because Ag metal was the most conductive one and easily accessible from the decomposition of unstable AgNO₃ at certain temperatures tolerated by organics. The reduced size of CaTP particles observed after adding Ag particles could increase the specific surface area and shorten the Li⁺ ion diffusion pathway. Consequently, the resulting CaTP/Ag anode exhibited an enhanced and reversible 92 mA h g⁻¹ capacity under a 240 mA g⁻¹ current density, which was four times higher than that of pristine CaTP under the same conditions. In addition, the cycling performance at 120 mA g⁻¹ current density was also improved in the cycle range of 21^st to 130^th, with a ∼113 mA h g⁻¹ discharge capacity value, which was also higher than that of pristine CaTP (∼26 mA h g⁻¹).