Formation of Flower-Like Carbon Nanosheet Aggregations and Their Electrochemical Application

We hereby report an easy solvothermal pathway for the large-scale preparation of flower-like carbon nanosheet aggregations (FCNAs) by reacting ferrocene and carbon disulfide at 800 °C in a sealed system for 10 h. The flower-like microstructure is 2−4 μm in diameter, and composed of the aggregated carbon nanosheets with thickness in the range 5.1−8.0 nm. The product possesses a specific surface area up to 93.6 m2 g−1 with a narrow pore size distribution centered at 2.57 nm. In the charge/discharge experiments of secondary lithium ion batteries, the FCNA electrodes exhibit a reversible capacity of 380.2 mA h g−1 and fine stability at various current densities, which suggests the potential application of the as-prepared FCNAs as electrode material in electronic devices. A possible nonequilibrium growth model of carbon nanosheet has been proposed on the basis of our observation results. The influence of experimental parameters on the morphology and structure of the final product has also been discussed.