Investigations on Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes for Lithium-Ion Battery Applications

Abstract

Since their discovery, the interest around carbon nanotubes (CNTs) has grown continuously and, especially in the last decade, their electrochemical and mechanical properties have become an area of interest for Li-ion battery applications. In particular, the high electronic conductivity compared to carbon blacks makes them suitable as conductive agent for electrodes. On the other hand, their ability to insert Li ions might allow them to be used as active material for the negative electrode. In this work, the role played by Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs) both as host for Li storage and as conductive additive is studied. With the aim of meeting the practical requirements of batteries" production and operation, the key relationships between the physico-chemical properties of the electrode materials and the electrochemical performance of the composite electrodes are investigated.