화학공학소재연구정보센터
Electrochimica Acta, Vol.292, 935-941, 2018
Nickel nanoparticles activated highly porous carbon for excellent sodium storage
The development of sodium ion batteries (SIBs) is greatly restricted by the unsatisfactory anode materials with low capacity and poor cycling stability. Herein, we report a dual-activation hydrothermal process to prepare highly porous activated loofah sponge carbon (ALSC) and ALSC/Ni composite. ALSC is prepared by a facile KOH-based hydrothermal method and further embedded with Ni nanoparticles to form ALSC/Ni composite material by a simple NiCl2-treated hydrothermal pyrolysis. The as-obtained ALSC/Ni composite material has a 3D connected porous structure and a large specific surface area of 689.6 m(2) g(-1) due to the etching reaction between NiCl2 and carbon. Moreover, higher electrical conductivity and more active sites are achieved in the ALSC/Ni composite material. When applied as anode for sodium ion batteries, the ALSC/Ni electrode delivers a high reversible capacity of 325.4 mA h g(-1) and keeps a capacity retention of 72.5% after 100 cycles at 20 mA g(-1), much better than ALSC and other counterparts. Due to the unique porous structure and embedded nickel nanoparticles, the designed ALSC/Ni electrode also shows enhanced rate performance. Our work paves a new road for fabrication of high-performance carbon composite electrodes for SIBS. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.