Vascular tissue-derived hard carbon with ultra-high rate capability for sodium-ion storage

• Published in: Carbon (New York) Vol. 224; p. 118955
• Main Authors: Pan, Guoyu, Zhao, Renfei, Huang, Zhikun, Cui, Chenghao, Wang, Fanqi, Gu, Yuanfan, Gao, Yingjie, Sun, Zhuang, Zhang, Tao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 25.04.2024
• Subjects: Biomass-derived hard carbon; carbon; carbonization; electrodes; electrolytes; Pore structure; porosity; pyrolysis; Pyrolysis temperature; sodium; Sodium-ion battery; Biomass-derived hard carbon; Pyrolysis temperature; Sodium-ion battery; Pore structure
• ISSN: 0008-6223; 1873-3891
• DOI: 10.1016/j.carbon.2024.118955

Vascular tissue helps quickly pass the nutrients and water through the plant. Inspiringly, the transport of electrolyte solutions within such biological tissue may also play an essential role in governing the high-current performance of sodium-ion storage. Herein, we report a facile and efficient approach to fabricate a vascular tissue-derived hard carbon (VHC) by an integrated procedure of leave stripping, carbonization and alkali/acid washing. By meticulously adjusting the pyrolysis temperatures, hierarchical microchannel carbon with abundant turbostratic nanodomains, suitable pore size and special surface functional groups can be obtained, enabling high specific capacity and excellent rate performances. It is believed that the vascular tissue-derived carbon can significantly shorten sodium ion transport paths and further enhance the storage performance on the surface and within the electrode materials, making it a promising candidate for sodium-ion batteries. By modulating the pyrolysis temperature, the structure of vascular tissue-derived carbon (VHC) can be controlled. The abundant surface functional groups expedite sodium ion exchange, while the naturally occurring straight-through pore structure shortens the diffusion distance of sodium ions. The combined effect grants VHC with high-rate performances. [Display omitted]