Development of alternative cathode materials is of highly desirable for sustainable and cost-efficient lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) in energy storage fields. In this study, for the first time, we report tunable nitrogen-doped graphene with active functional groups for cathode utilization of LIBs. When employed as cathode materials, the functionalized graphene frameworks with a nitrogen content of 9.26 at% retain a reversible capacity of 344 mAh g-1 after 200 cycles at a current density of 50 mA g-1. More surprisingly, when conducted at a high current density of 1 A g-1, this cathode delivers a high reversible capacity of 146 mAh g-1 after 1000 cycles. Our current research demonstrates the effective significance of nitrogen doping on enhancing cathode performance of functionalized graphene for LIBs.
Keywords: cathode materials; graphene; lithium ion batteries; nitrogen-doped; oxygenic functional groups.