Highly ordered mesoporous few-layer graphene frameworks enabled by fe3 o4 nanocrystal superlattices

Abstract

While great progress has been achieved in the synthesis of ordered mesoporous carbons in the past decade, it still remains a challenge to prepare highly graphitic frameworks with ordered mesoporosity and high surface area. Reported herein is a simple synthetic methodology, based on the conversion of self-assembled superlattices of Fe3 O4 nanocrystals, to fabricate highly ordered mesoporous graphene frameworks (MGFs) with ultrathin pore walls consisting of three to six stacking graphene layers. The MGFs possess face-centered-cubic symmetry with interconnected mesoporosity, tunable pore width, and high surface area. Because of their unique architectures and superior structural durability, the MGFs exhibit excellent cycling stability and rate performance when used as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, thus retaining a specific capacity of 520 mAh g(-1) at a current density of 300 mA g(-1) after 400 cycles.

Keywords: graphene; lithium; mesoporous materials; nanostructures; self-assembly.