Novel Approach Through the Harmonized Sulfur in Disordered Carbon Structure for High-Efficiency Sodium-Ion Exchange

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2020 Sep 30;12(39):43750-43760. doi: 10.1021/acsami.0c12677. Epub 2020 Sep 3.

Abstract

Sodium-ion batteries (SiBs) have recently attracted considerable interest due to the plentiful supply of raw materials for their production and their electrochemical behavior, which is similar to that of lithium-ion batteries (LiBs). However, the relatively larger radius of sodium ions than that of lithium ions is not suitable for storage in conventional graphite, which is widely used as the anode. To resolve this issue, in this study, we developed a new harmonized carbon material with a three-dimensional (3D) grapevine-like structure and a sulfur component using an efficient synthesis process. On the basis of these advantages, the harmonized sulfur-carbon material exhibited a highly reversible capacity of 146 mA h g-1 at an extremely high specific current of 100 A g-1 and long-term galvanostatic cycling stability at 10 and 100 A g-1 with superior electrochemical performance. Our results are anticipated to provide new insights into SiB anode materials that would advance their production.

Keywords: anode; disordered carbon; plasma in liquid synthesis; sodium ion storage; sodium-ion battery; sulfur doping.