Polyimide schiff base as a high-performance anode material for lithium-ion batteries

Abstract Currently, organic electrode materials have shown promising prospects in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, the practical application of organic electrode materials is severely hindered by the intrinsic low electrical conductivity and poor cycle stability. Herein, we present a novel polyimide (NBI-PI) which contains extended π-conjugated naphthalene ring and Schiff-base structure as an anode material. The NBI-PI has abundant active sites and crystallized nature. The organic anode based on NBI-PI for LIBs exhibit good reversible capacity of 627.8 mA h g−1 at 0.25 A g−1 after 200 cycles, and display reasonable rate performance of 217 mA h g−1 at 2 A g−1. When the batteries are cycled at 2 A g−1, capacity retention of 85.7% is attained after 1600 electrochemical cycles. This work demonstrates a facile and practical strategy to develop high-performance organic anode materials for lithium-ion batteries.