N-doped pinecone-based carbon with a hierarchical porous pie-like structure: a long-cycle-life anode material for potassium-ion batteries

Abstract

Pinecone-based biomass carbon (PC) is a potential anode material for potassium-ion batteries because it is abundant, cheap, renewable, and easy to obtain. However, because of inferior kinetics and the effects of volume expansion due to the large radius of the K⁺ ion, it does not meet commercial performance requirements. In this study, nitrogen-doped PC (NPC) was prepared by carbonization in molten ZnCl₂ with urea as a nitrogen source. A strategy based on synergistic effects between N doping and ZnCl₂ molten salt was used to produce a hierarchically porous pie-like NPC with abundant defects and active sites and an enlarged interlayer distance—properties that enhance K⁺ adsorption, promote K⁺ intercalation/diffusion, and reduce the effects of volume expansion. This NPC exhibited a high reversible capacity (283 mA h g⁻¹ at 50 mA g⁻¹) and superior rate performance and cyclic stability (110 mA h g⁻¹ after 1000 cycles at 5 A g⁻¹), demonstrating its potential for use in potassium-ion batteries.