A three-dimensional surface modified carbon cloth designed as flexible current collector for high-performance lithium and sodium batteries

Abstract Flexible batteries as one of the most promising technologies for the application of wearable and soft electronic devices have attracted great attention in recent years. Similar to conventional secondary batteries, cyclability, and high rate capacities are also required for application of flexible electronics. In this paper, a flexible surface modified carbon cloth architecture is designed as a current collector and prepared for the application in Li and Na batteries. Owing to the design of rough structure on carbon fibers, the surface area for active materials to nucleate and grow can be increased, and the rough surface ensures a good contact between the active material and carbon fibers. The binder free Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 /surface modified carbon cloth electrodes exhibit excellent cycle ability for both Li and Na storages. The electrode delivers a small capacity loss of 9.5% after 6000 cycles at 10C with a capacity retention of 131 mA h g −1 for Li storage. And a capacity of 124 mA h g −1 is obtained after 1000 cycles for Na storage.