A diesel soot-derived high-performance anode material for lithium/sodium-ion batteries: impact of different annealing temperatures

Abstract

The development of high-performance anode materials is crucial for advancing next-generation electrochemical energy storage devices. Amorphous carbon materials (ACMs) have attracted significant attention as anodes for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) due to their high reversible capacity and excellent stability. This study explores the use of diesel soot – typically toxic waste – as a precursor for ACMs. By varying the annealing temperature, we demonstrate that temperature plays a critical role in determining the material's properties and electrochemical performance. The soot treated at 900 °C (S-900) exhibits a high specific surface area (134.0 m² g⁻¹), a hierarchical porous structure, and excellent electrical conductivity. As an anode for LIBs, S-900 delivers an impressive reversible specific capacity of 626 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.1 A g⁻¹, which increases to 640 mAh g⁻¹ after 800 stable cycles at 1 A g⁻¹. In SIBs, S-900 shows a first-cycle reversible capacity of 241 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.1 A g⁻¹, with 138 mAh g⁻¹ retained after 1800 cycles at 1 A g⁻¹. This study provides a novel approach to the sustainable utilization of diesel soot.