Intercalation chemistry of graphite-like layered material BC6N for anode of Li ion battery Original Research Article

Films with an approximate composition of BC6N were prepared by the reaction of acrylonitrile with boron trichloride (mole ratio=2:1) at 1470–2070 K under atmospheric pressure. The films obtained at 1470 and 2070 K had graphite-like layered structure whose interlayer spaces were 0.339 and 0.342 nm, respectively. Rapid chemical intercalation of Li into the BC6N prepared at 2070 K was observed in View the MathML sourceLi+C10H8−/2–MeTHF solution, resulting in formation of the first stage intercalation compound with an interlayer space (d-spacing) of 0.365 nm. The BC6N prepared at 1470 K performed electrochemical charge/discharge cycles similar to those of graphite in 1 M-LiPF6/EC+DEC solution. The first stage compound of LiXBC6N, which was prepared by the electrochemical method, had a d-spacing of 0.355 nm smaller than that of LiC6 (0.370 nm). The small expansion ratio in d-spacing [4.7%={(0.355–0.339)/0.339}×100] could be one of the advantages of the BC6N material for the usage as Li ion battery anode.