Low-temperature reduction–pyrolysis–catalysis synthesis of carbon nanospheres for lithium-ion batteries

Carbon nanospheres were synthesized using a reduction–pyrolysis–catalysis process with the reaction of carbon tetrachloride and aluminum at low temperature (160 °C), which is much lower than that of traditional methods. The carbon nanospheres as an electrode for Li-ion batteries exhibited a high specific capacity of 719 mA h g−1 at a rate of 0.2 A g−1 (98.5% charge capacity retention) after 100 charge–discharge cycles.