Characteristics of heat treated polyparaphenylene for lithium-ion secondary batteries Original Research Article

In order to clarify the mechanism of Li-ions insertion/deinsertion into/from polyparaphenylene (PPP)-based carbons, the PPP carbonization has been analyzed. The weight loss of the PPP carbonized samples increased at a faster rate in the temperature range 600–680 °C. Hydrocarbons such as benzene and biphenyl were mainly detected by gas chromotography–mass spectrometry at a temperature of 710 °C during thermo-gravimetric analysis of PPP. The microtexture and the structure of heat treated PPP samples were characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy and investigated by image processing. The resistivity measurements of heat treated PPP showed a drastic decrease in the 680–730 °C HTT range. We related the microtexture evolution, the hydrocarbons release and the resistivity decrease of PPP carbonized samples to Li-ion battery capacity.