Carbon Nanomaterials Are Resolving the Challenges and Issues of Future Lithium Ion Batteries

This chapter discusses different carbon allotropes and summarizes the properties as well as applications of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene for the development of high-performance lithium ion batteries (LIBs). Among different carbonaceous materials, CNT and graphene are extensively studied as electrode materials and additives for polymer electrolytes for LIBs due to their unique structure and properties. There are eight main allotropes of carbon (C): diamond, graphite, lonsdaleite, C₆₀, C₅₄₀, C₇₀, amorphous carbon, and CNT or buckytube. The invention of CNTs was scientifically reported by Sumio Iijima in 1991 as a byproduct of fullerene synthesis and garnered him the Nobel Prize. Several types of nanotubes exist, but they can be divided into two main categories: single-walled CNTs (SWNTs)—these can be envisioned as cylinders composed of a rolled-up graphene nanosheet around a central hollow core; and multi-walled CNTs—these consist of two or more graphene layers held together by Van der Waals forces between adjacent layers and folded as hollow cylinders.