Surpassing the Organic Cathode Performance for Lithium-Ion Batteries with Robust Fluorinated Covalent Quinazoline Networks

Organic electrode materials have promising application prospects in energy storage, but issues including rapid capacity fading and poor power capacity restrict their practical applications. Herein, nanoporous fluorinated covalent quinazoline networks (F-CQNs) were constructed by condensation of fluorinated aromatic aminonitrile precursors via an ionothermal pathway. Precise control of the reaction parameters afforded F-CQN-1-600 material featuring high surface area, permanent porosity, high nitrogen content (23.49 wt %), extended π-conjugated architecture, layered structure, and bipolar combination of benzene and tricycloquinazoline. Synergy among these unique properties leads to a good performance as a cathode source for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) in terms of high capacity (250 mA h g–1 at 0.1 A g–1), high rate capability (105 mA h g–1 at 5.0 A g–1), and impressive cycling stability (95.8% retention rate after 2000 cycles at 2.0 A g–1 together with a high Coulombic efficiency of 99.95%), surpassing most of the previous organic cathode counterparts.