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Vol. 12 (2020)

Engineering Mesoporous Structure in Amorphous Carbon Boosts Potassium Storage with High Initial Coulombic Efficiency

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-020-00481-7
Ruiting Guo
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, People’s Republic of China
Xiong Liu
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, People’s Republic of China
Bo Wen
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, People’s Republic of China
Fang Liu
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, People’s Republic of China
Jiashen Meng
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, People’s Republic of China
Peijie Wu
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, People’s Republic of China
Jinsong Wu
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, People’s Republic of China
Qi Li
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, People’s Republic of China
Liqiang Mai
State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, People’s Republic of China

Corresponding Author: Liqiang Mai

mlq518@whut.edu.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 12 (2020), Article Number: 148

Abstract

Amorphous carbon shows great potential as an anode material for high-performance potassium-ion batteries; however, its abundant defects or micropores generally capture K ions, thus resulting in high irreversible capacity with low initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE) and limited practical application. Herein, pore engineering via a facile self-etching strategy is applied to achieve mesoporous carbon (meso-C) nanowires with interconnected framework. Abundant and evenly distributed mesopores could provide short K+ pathways for its rapid diffusion. Compared to microporous carbon with highly disordered structure, the meso-C with Zn-catalyzed short-range ordered structure enables more K+ to reversibly intercalate into the graphitic layers. Consequently, the meso-C shows an increased capacity by ~ 100 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1, and the capacity retention is 70.7% after 1000 cycles at 1 A g−1. Multiple in/ex situ characterizations reveal the reversible structural changes during the charging/discharging process. Particularly, benefiting from the mesoporous structure with reduced specific surface area by 31.5 times and less defects, the meso-C generates less irreversible capacity with high ICE up to 76.7%, one of the best reported values so far. This work provides a new perspective that mesopores engineering can effectively accelerate K+ diffusion and enhance K+ adsorption/intercalation storage.


Highlights:


1 A facile self-etching strategy was used to obtain mesoporous carbon (meso-C) nanowires with zinc-catalyzed short-range ordered structure.
2 Meso-C anode showed high initial Coulombic efficiency (76.7%) and excellent cycling stability (1000 cycles) for potassium-ion batteries.
3 In/ex situ characterizations revealed the reversible structural changes, and the kinetic analyses revealed the rapid K+ diffusion in electrode.

Keywords

Potassium-ion battery Mesopores engineering Storage mechanism Initial Coulombic efficiency
Guo, Ruiting, Xiong Liu, Bo Wen, Fang Liu, Jiashen Meng, Peijie Wu, Jinsong Wu, Qi Li, and Liqiang Mai. 2020. “Engineering Mesoporous Structure in Amorphous Carbon Boosts Potassium Storage With High Initial Coulombic Efficiency”. Nano-Micro Letters 12 (July):148. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-020-00481-7.
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