Issue 47, 2018

Chemically activated hollow carbon nanospheres as a high-performance anode material for potassium ion batteries

Abstract

Potassium-ion batteries (KIBs) are considered as a promising competitor to other metal-ion battery systems due to their low-cost and large-scale energy storage. However, their development is hindered by poor intercalation property of K ions in electrodes due to the heavier weight and larger size of K ion than those of Li ion. Therefore, achieving an ultra-long cycle life with high capacity and excellent rate capability remains a significant challenge for KIB electrodes. Herein, activated hollow carbon nanospheres (AHCSs), with enlarged interlayer spacing, oxygen-containing functional groups (OCFGs) on the surface and high specific surface area, are proposed as a new anode electrode for high-performance KIBs. Ex situ XRD and TEM results demonstrated that the enlarged interlayer spacing allow more reversible K ion intercalation into the carbon layer and readily accommodated large (de)potassiation strain without fracture, while OCFGs on AHCSs enhanced pseudocapacitance type behavior and specific capacity. Due to the synergistic effect of these structural features, the AHCSs served as anode for KIBs, exhibiting impressive electrochemical properties with high initial charge capacity of 370.2 mA h g−1 at 0.2 A g−1, ultra-long cycling life for 5000 cycles at a high current density of 2.0 A g−1, as well as prominent rate capability of 137.0 mA h g−1 at 4.0 A g−1. This study highlights the significant role of interlayer spacing, surface oxygen functionalization and hierarchical porosity of carbon-based anodes in potassium storage.

Graphical abstract: Chemically activated hollow carbon nanospheres as a high-performance anode material for potassium ion batteries

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
10 10 2018
Accepted
06 11 2018
First published
06 11 2018

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2018,6, 24317-24323

Chemically activated hollow carbon nanospheres as a high-performance anode material for potassium ion batteries

G. Wang, X. Xiong, D. Xie, Z. Lin, J. Zheng, F. Zheng, Y. Li, Y. Liu, C. Yang and M. Liu, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2018, 6, 24317 DOI: 10.1039/C8TA09751H

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements