Enhancing potassium ions adsorption on mesoporous carbon spheres with abundant internal surface via engineering sulfur doping sites towards superior rate capability

Chang Liu; Xiangping Feng; Yutong Zhao; Huilin Fan; Runguo Zheng; Zhiyuan Wang; Hamidreza Arandiyan; Yuan Wang; Suresh K Bhargava; Yanguo Liu; Hongyu Sun; Zongping Shao

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2023.08.165

Enhancing potassium ions adsorption on mesoporous carbon spheres with abundant internal surface via engineering sulfur doping sites towards superior rate capability

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2023 Dec 15;652(Pt B):1325-1337. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.08.165. Epub 2023 Aug 26.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110004, PR China.
² School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110004, PR China; School of Resources and Materials, Northeastern University at Qinhuangdao, Qinhuangdao 066004, PR China; Key Laboratory of Dielectric and Electrolyte Functional Material Hebei Province, Northeastern University at Qinhuangdao, Qinhuangdao 066004, PR China.
³ Laboratory of Advanced Catalysis for Sustainability, School of Chemistry, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia; Centre for Applied Materials and Industrial Chemistry (CAMIC), School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Vic 3000, Australia.
⁴ Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Melbourne, Vic 3125, Australia. Electronic address: helena.wang@deakin.edu.au.
⁵ Centre for Applied Materials and Industrial Chemistry (CAMIC), School of Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Vic 3000, Australia.
⁶ School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110004, PR China; School of Resources and Materials, Northeastern University at Qinhuangdao, Qinhuangdao 066004, PR China; Key Laboratory of Dielectric and Electrolyte Functional Material Hebei Province, Northeastern University at Qinhuangdao, Qinhuangdao 066004, PR China. Electronic address: lyg@neuq.edu.cn.
⁷ School of Resources and Materials, Northeastern University at Qinhuangdao, Qinhuangdao 066004, PR China. Electronic address: hyltsun@gmail.com.
⁸ WA School of Mines: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6845, Australia. Electronic address: zongping.shao@curtin.edu.au.

PMID: 37659304
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.08.165

Abstract

Mesoporous carbon spheres (MCSs) show great potential for using as high-performance anodes in potassium-ion batteries (PIBs). Design and synthesis of MCSs with suitable multiscale structures and heteroatom doping or co-doping in MCSs are successfully employed to optimize the ion and electron transportation, however, it is still a challenge to explore MCS-based anodes with satisfactory potassium storage performance. In this work, we report novel S-doped MCS samples with abundant internal surfaces for potassium storage. The S doping sites are controlled during the synthesis, and the effect of different doping sites on the potassium storage is systematically studied. It is found that S doping between the carbon layers enlarges interlayer spacing and facilitates potassium ion adsorption. Consequently, the optimized sample shows an excellent rate capability of 144 mAh/g at 5.0 A/g, and a high reversible specific capacity of 325 mAh/g after 100 cycles at 0.1 A/g with a capacity retention of 91.2%. The important role of element doping sites on ion adsorption and ion storage performance is confirmed by theoretical investigations. Controlling the doping sites in MCSs provides a new approach to designing high-performance electrodes for energy storage and conversion applications.

Keywords: Doping sites; Mesoporous carbon spheres; Potassium storage; Rate capability; Sulfur doping.