In situ growth of polyphosphazene nanoparticles on graphene sheets as a highly stable nanocomposite for metal-free lithium anodes

Abstract

A polyphosphazene/GN nanocomposite was readily synthesized by thermal polymerization of hexachlorocyclotriphosphazene with graphene oxide, which exhibits a stable and uniform nanostructure. The introduction of electron-withdrawing polyphosphazene nanoparticles on graphene could effectively create a great number of active sites and avoid the stacking of aromatic layers of graphene, which contributes to providing more domains for lithium storage and accelerating charge transformability. Therefore, an excellent rechargeable capability (1002 mA h g⁻¹ at 100 mA g⁻¹) and rate performance (321 mA h g⁻¹ at 5 A g⁻¹) for metal-free Li ion battery anodes could be achieved.