A strategy based on water soluble coal tar pitches to construct MnO2@C composite materials with high electrochemical performance

• Published in: Science China. Technological sciences Vol. 67; no. 1; pp. 311 - 320
• Main Authors: Liu, Bo, Wang, Kun, Guo, ZhaoQi, Han, BeiBei, Xu, GuiYing, Ju, DongYing, An, BaiGang, Li, YongCheng, Ni, ZhenYong, Zhou, WeiMin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing Science China Press 2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Amorphous materials; Coal tar; Composite materials; Current density; Electrochemical analysis; Engineering; Manganese dioxide; Metal oxides; Potassium permanganate; Storage capacity; Strategy; Water chemistry; energy storage systems (ESSs); lithium ion batteries (LIBs); water soluble coal tar pitches; coal tar pitches; MnO; composite materials
• ISSN: 1674-7321; 1869-1900
• DOI: 10.1007/s11431-022-2335-8

The water soluble coal tar pitches (WS-CTPs) were successfully prepared and used to construct the MnO 2 @C composite materials by a hydrothermal method. It is interestingly observed that the structures and morphologies of MnO 2 @C materials can be controlled by controlling the dosages of WS-CTPs and KMnO 4 . Meanwhile, it is aware that MnO 2 exists in the MnO 2 @C materials in an amorphous state. Compared with MnO 2 , MnO 2 @C materials output a remarkable improvement in electrochemical performance. For instance, MnO 2 @C-0.3 shows the storage capacity at 965.7 mA h g −1 after 300 cycles at a current density of 0.1 A g −1 . In addition, after 600 cycles at a current density of 1.0 A g −1 , the storage capacity of MnO 2 @C-0.3 still keeps 450.3 mA h g −1 , indicating that MnO 2 @C-0.3 owns tremendous cycle stability at a high current density. In view of the fact that the coal tar pitches possess great cost advantages, the strategy of using WS-CTPs as a carbon source to cover the metal oxides is a competitive way to expand the application of metal oxides in the fabrication of electrodes of LIBs.