Carbon shell encapsulated cobalt phosphide nanoparticles embedded in carbon nanotubes supported on carbon nanofibers: A promising anode for potassium ion battery

Wenfang Miao; Xinyan Zhao; Rui Wang; Yiqun Liu; Ling Li; Zisheng Zhang; Wenming Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2019.08.090

Carbon shell encapsulated cobalt phosphide nanoparticles embedded in carbon nanotubes supported on carbon nanofibers: A promising anode for potassium ion battery

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2019 Nov 15:556:432-440. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2019.08.090. Epub 2019 Aug 26.

Authors

Wenfang Miao¹, Xinyan Zhao¹, Rui Wang¹, Yiqun Liu¹, Ling Li², Zisheng Zhang³, Wenming Zhang⁴

Affiliations

¹ National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of New Energy Photoelectric Devices, College of Physics Science and Technology, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, China.
² National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of New Energy Photoelectric Devices, College of Physics Science and Technology, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, China. Electronic address: lilinghbu@163.com.
³ National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of New Energy Photoelectric Devices, College of Physics Science and Technology, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, China. Electronic address: zhangzisheng@hbu.edu.cn.
⁴ National-Local Joint Engineering Laboratory of New Energy Photoelectric Devices, College of Physics Science and Technology, Hebei University, Baoding 071002, China. Electronic address: wmzhanghbu@126.com.

PMID: 31472317
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2019.08.090

Abstract

Despite transition metal phosphide (TMP)-based hybrid structures demonstrating desirable results for potassium ion battery applications, most of their preparation methods require complex multi-step procedures. Herein, a three-dimensional (3D) structural material in which amorphous carbon (AC) encapsulated CoP nanoparticles are embedded at the top of nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes derived from ZIF-67/ZIF-8 grown on the surface of carbon nanofibers (AC@CoP/NCNTs/CNFs) is reported for the first time. The CoP acts as a core and the amorphous carbon layer acts as a shell, which restrains the volume expansion of active materials during charging and discharging. Furthermore, the carbon nanofiber network can improve the conductivity, and doped nitrogen can increase active sites. As a result, the electrochemical properties of the potassium ion battery are enhanced when an AC@CoP/NCNTs/CNFs nanocomposite is used as the anode electrode, and the electrode exhibits a reversible capacity of 247 mA h g^-1 after 1000 cycles at 0.8 A g^-1 in a potassium ion battery.

Keywords: Anode; Carbon nanotubes; Cobalt phosphide; Potassium ion battery; ZIFs.