Superior Sodium Storage in 3D Interconnected Nitrogen and Oxygen Dual‐Doped Carbon Network

Carbonaceous materials have attracted immense interest as anode materials for Na‐ion batteries (NIBs) because of their good chemical, thermal stabilities, as well as high Na‐storage capacity. However, the carbonaceous materials as anodes for NIBs still suffer from the lower rate capability and poor cycle life. An N,O‐dual doped carbon (denoted as NOC) network is designed and synthesized, which is greatly favorable for sodium storage. It exhibits high specific capacity and ultralong cycling stability, delivering a capacity of 545 mAh g^?1 at 100 mA g^?1 after 100 cycles and retaining a capacity of 240 mAh g^?1 at 2 A g^?1 after 2000 cycles. The NOC composite with 3D well‐defined porosity and N,O‐dual doped induces active sites, contributing to the enhanced sodium storage. In addition, the NOC is synthesized through a facile solution process, which can be easily extended to the preparation of many other N,O‐dual doped carbonaceous materials for wide applications in catalysis, energy storage, and solar cells.     

Hierarchical 3D All‐Carbon Composite Structure Modified with N‐Doped Graphene Quantum Dots for High‐Performance Flexible Supercapacitors

Flexible supercapacitors have shown enormous potential for portable electronic devices. Herein, hierarchical 3D all‐carbon electrode materials are prepared by assembling N‐doped graphene quantum dots (N‐GQDs) on carbonized MOF materials (cZIF‐8) interweaved with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for flexible all‐solid‐state supercapacitors. In this ternary electrode, cZIF‐8 provides a large accessible surface area, CNTs act as the electrical conductive network, and N‐GQDs serve as highly pseudocapactive materials. Due to the synergistic effect and hierarchical assembly of these components, N‐GQD@cZIF‐8/CNT electrodes exhibit a high specific capacitance of 540 F g^?1 at 0.5 A g^?1 in a 1 m H₂SO₄ electrolyte and excellent cycle stability with 90.9% capacity retention over 8000 cycles. The assembled supercapacitor possesses an energy density of 18.75 Wh kg^?1 with a power density of 108.7 W kg^?1. Meanwhile, three supercapacitors connected in series can power light‐emitting diodes for 20 min. All‐solid‐state N‐GQD@cZIF‐8/CNT flexible supercapacitor exhibits an energy density of 14 Wh kg^?1 with a power density of 89.3 W kg^?1, while the capacitance retention after 5000 cycles reaches 82%. This work provides an effective way to construct novel electrode materials with high energy storage density as well as good cycling performance and power density for high‐performance energy storage devices via the rational design.     

Golden Bristlegrass‐Like Hierarchical Graphene Nanofibers Entangled with N‐Doped CNTs Containing CoSe2 Nanocrystals at Each Node as Anodes for High‐Rate Sodium‐Ion Batteries

Golden bristlegrass‐like unique nanostructures comprising reduced graphene oxide (rGO) matrixed nanofibers entangled with bamboo‐like N‐doped carbon nanotubes (CNTs) containing CoSe₂ nanocrystals at each node (denoted as N‐CNT/rGO/CoSe₂ NF) are designed as anodes for high‐rate sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs). Bamboo‐like N‐doped CNTs (N‐CNTs) are successfully generated on the rGO matrixed nanofiber surface, between rGO sheets and mesopores, and interconnected chemically with homogeneously distributed rGO sheets. The defects in the N‐CNTs formed by a simple etching process allow the complete phase conversion of Co into CoSe₂ through the efficient penetration of H₂Se gas inside the CNT walls. The N‐CNTs bridge the vertical defects for electron transfer in the rGO sheet layers and increase the distance between the rGO sheets during cycles. The discharge capacity of N‐CNT/rGO/CoSe₂ NF after the 10 000th cycle at an extremely high current density of 10 A g^?1 is 264 mA h g^?1, and the capacity retention measured at the 100th cycle is 89%. N‐CNT/rGO/CoSe₂ NF has final discharge capacities of 395, 363, 328, 304, 283, 263, 246, 223, 197, 171, and 151 mA h g^?1 at current densities of 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20 A g^?1, respectively.     

Nitrogen Doped γ‐Graphyne: A Novel Anode for High‐Capacity Rechargeable Alkali‐Ion Batteries

High energy density is the major demand for next‐generation rechargeable batteries, while the intrinsic low alkali metal adsorption of traditional carbon–based electrode remains the main challenge. Here, the mechanochemical route is proposed to prepare nitrogen doped γ‐graphyne (NGY) and its high capacity is demonstrated in lithium (LIBs)/sodium (SIBs) ion batteries. The sample delivers large reversible Li (1037 mAh g^?1) and Na (570.4 mAh g^?1) storage capacities at 100 mA g^?1 and presents excellent rate capabilities (526 mAh g^?1 for LIBs and 180.2 mAh g^?1 for SIBs) at 5 A g^?1. The superior Li/Na storage mechanisms of NGY are revealed by its 2D morphology evolution, quantitative kinetics, and theoretical calculations. The effects on the diffusion barriers (E_b) and adsorption energies (E_ad) of Li/Na atoms in NGY are also studied and imine‐N is demonstrated to be the ideal doping format to enhance the Li/Na storage performance. Besides, the Li/Na adsorption routes in NGY are optimized according to the experimental and the first‐principles calculation results. This work provides a facile way to fabricate high capacity electrodes in LIBs/SIBs, which is also instructive for the design of other heteroatomic doped electrodes.     

Tin Nanodots Derived From Sn2+/Graphene Quantum Dot Complex as Pillars into Graphene Blocks for Ultrafast and Ultrastable Sodium‐Ion Storage

Tin (Sn) is considered to be an ideal candidate for the anode of sodium ion batteries. However, the design of Sn‐based electrodes with maintained long‐term stability still remains challenging due to their huge volume expansion (≈420%) and easy pulverization during cycling. Herein, a facile and versatile strategy for the synthesis of nitrogen‐doped graphene quantum dot (GQD) edge‐anchored Sn nanodots as the pillars into reduced graphene oxide blocks (NGQD/Sn‐NG) for ultrafast and ultrastable sodium‐ion storage is reported. Sn nanodots (2–5 nm) anchored at the edges of “octopus‐like” GQDs via covalent Sn? O? C/Sn? N? C bonds function as the pillars that ensure fast Na‐ion/electron transport across the graphene blocks. Moreover, the chemical and spatial (layered structure) confinements not only suppress Sn aggregation, but also function as physical barriers for buffering volume change upon sodiation/desodiation. Consequently, the NGQD/Sn‐NG with high structural stability exhibits excellent rate performance (555 mAh g^?1 at 0.1 A g^?1 and 198 mAh g^?1 at 10 A g^?1) and ultra‐long cycling stability (184 mAh g^?1 remaining even after 2000 cycles at 5 A g^?1). The confinement‐induced synthesis together with remarkable electrochemical performances should shed light on the practical application of highly attractive tin‐based anodes for next generation rechargeable sodium batteries.     

Atomic Cobalt Covalently Engineered Interlayers for Superior Lithium‐Ion Storage

With the unique‐layered structure, MXenes show potential as electrodes in energy‐storage devices including lithium‐ion (Li⁺) capacitors and batteries. However, the low Li⁺‐storage capacity hinders the application of MXenes in place of commercial carbon materials. Here, the vanadium carbide (V₂C) MXene with engineered interlayer spacing for desirable storage capacity is demonstrated. The interlayer distance of pristine V₂C MXene is controllably tuned to 0.735 nm resulting in improved Li‐ion capacity of 686.7 mA h g^?1 at 0.1 A g^?1, the best MXene‐based Li⁺‐storage capacity reported so far. Further, cobalt ions are stably intercalated into the interlayer of V₂C MXene to form a new interlayer‐expanded structure via strong V–O–Co bonding. The intercalated V₂C MXene electrodes not only exhibit superior capacity up to 1117.3 mA h g^?1 at 0.1 A g^?1, but also deliver a significantly ultralong cycling stability over 15 000 cycles. These results clearly suggest that MXene materials with an engineered interlayer distance will be a rational route for realizing them as superstable and high‐performance Li⁺ capacitor electrodes.     

Highly Enhanced Pseudocapacitive Performance of Vanadium‐Doped MXenes in Neutral Electrolytes

2D titanium carbide (Ti₃C₂T_x MXene) is recognized as a promising material for pseudocapacitor electrodes in acidic solutions, while the current studies in neutral electrolytes show much poorer performances. By a simple hydrothermal method, vanadium‐doped Ti₃C₂T_x 2D nanosheets are prepared to tune the interaction between MXene and alkali metal adsorbates (Li⁺, Na⁺, and K⁺) in the neutral electrolyte. Maintaining the 2D morphology of MXene, the coexisting V³⁺ and V⁴⁺ are confirmed to form surface V–C and V–O species. At a medium doping level of V:Ti = 0.17:1, the V‐doped MXene exhibits the highest capacitance of 365.9 F g^?1 in 2 m KCl (10 mV s^?1) and excellent stability (5% loss after 5000 cycles), compared to only 115.7 F g^?1 of pristine MXene. Density functional theory calculations reveal the stronger alkali metal ion–O interaction on V‐doped MXene surface than unmodified MXene and a further capacitance boost to 404.9 F g^?1 using Li⁺‐containing neutral electrolyte is reported, which is comparable to the performance under acidic conditions.     

Controllable N‐Doped CuCo2O4@C Film as a Self‐Supported Anode for Ultrastable Sodium‐Ion Batteries

Rational synthesis of flexible electrodes is crucial to rapid growth of functional materials for energy‐storage systems. Herein, a controllable fabrication is reported for the self‐supported structure of CuCo₂O₄ nanodots (≈3 nm) delicately inserted into N‐doped carbon nanofibers (named as 3‐CCO@C); this composite is first used as binder‐free anode for sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs). Benefiting from the synergetic effect of ultrasmall CuCo₂O₄ nanoparticles and a tailored N‐doped carbon matrix, the 3‐CCO@C composite exhibits high cycling stability (capacity of 314 mA h g^?1 at 1000 mA g^?1 after 1000 cycles) and high rate capability (296 mA h g^?1, even at 5000 mA g^?1). Significantly, the Na storage mechanism is systematically explored, demonstrating that the irreversible reaction of CuCo₂O₄, which decomposes to Cu and Co, happens in the first discharge process, and then a reversible reaction between metallic Cu/Co and CuO/Co₃O₄ occurrs during the following cycles. This result is conducive to a mechanistic study of highly promising bimetallic‐oxide anodes for rechargeable SIBs.     

One‐Step Route Synthesized Co2P/Ru/N‐Doped Carbon Nanotube Hybrids as Bifunctional Electrocatalysts for High‐Performance Li–O2 Batteries

The large‐scale commercial application of lithium–oxygen batteries (LOBs) is overwhelmed by the sluggish kinetics of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) associated with insoluble and insulated Li₂O₂. Herein, an elaborate design on a highly catalytic LOBs cathode constructed by N‐doped carbon nanotubes (CNT) with in situ encapsulated Co₂P and Ru nanoparticles is reported. The homogeneously dispersed Co₂P and Ru catalysts can effectively modulate the formation and decomposition behavior of Li₂O₂ during discharge/charge processes, ameliorating the electronically insulating property of Li₂O₂ and constructing a homogenous low‐impedance Li₂O₂/catalyst interface. Compared with Co/CNT and Ru/CNT electrodes, the Co₂P/Ru/CNT electrode delivers much higher oxygen reduction triggering onset potential and higher ORR and OER peak current and integral areas, showing greatly improved ORR/OER kinetics due to the synergistic effects of Co₂P and Ru. Li–O₂ cells based on the Ru/Co₂P/CNT electrode demonstrate improved ORR/OER overpotential of 0.75 V, excellent rate capability of 12 800 mAh g^?1 at 1 A g^?1, and superior cycle stability for more than 185 cycles under a restricted capacity of 1000 mAh g^?1 at 100 mA g^?1. This work paves an exciting avenue for the design and construction of bifunctional catalytic cathodes by coupling metal phosphides with other active components in LOBs.     

Tailoring Highly N‐Doped Carbon Materials from Hexamine‐Based MOFs: Superior Performance and New Insight into the Roles of N Configurations in Na‐Ion Storage

To prepare highly N‐doped carbon materials (HNCs) as well as to determine the influence of N dopants on Na‐ion storage performance, hexamine‐based metal–organic frameworks are employed as new and efficient precursors in the preparation of HNCs. The HNCs possess reversible capacities as high as 160 and 142 mA h g^?1 at 2 A g^?1 (≈8 C) and 5 A g^?1 (≈20 C), respectively, and maintain values of 145 and 123 mA h g^?1 after 500 cycles, thus exhibiting excellent rate and long‐term cyclic performance. Based on systematic analysis, a new insight into the roles of the different N configurations in Na‐ion storage is proposed. The adsorption of Na ions on pyridinic‐N (N‐6) and pyrrolic‐N (N‐5) is fully irreversible, whereas the adsorption on graphitic‐N (N‐Q) is partially reversible and the adsorption on N‐oxide (N‐O) is fully reversible. More importantly, the N‐6/N‐Q ratio is an intrinsic parameter that reflects the relationship between the N configurations and carbon textures for N‐doped carbons prepared from in situ pyrolysis of organic precursors. The cyclic stability and rate‐performance improve with decreasing N‐6/N‐Q ratio. Therefore, this work is of great significance for the design of N‐doped carbon electrodes with high performance for sodium ion batteries.     

Interlayer Hydrogen‐Bonded Metal Porphyrin Frameworks/MXene Hybrid Film with High Capacitance for Flexible All‐Solid‐State Supercapacitors

2D metal‐porphyrin frameworks (MPFs) are attractive for advanced energy storage devices. However, the inferior conductivity and low structural stability of MPFs seriously limit their application as flexible free‐standing electrodes with high performance. Here, for the first time, an interlayer hydrogen‐bonded MXene/MPFs film is proposed to overcome these disadvantages by intercalation of highly conductive MXene nanosheets into MPFs nanosheets via a vacuum‐assisted filtration technology. The alternant insertion of MXene and MPFs affords 3D interconnected “MPFs‐to‐MXene‐to‐MPFs” conductive networks to accelerate the ionic/electronic transport rates. Meanwhile, the interlayer hydrogen bonds (F···H? O and O···H? O) contribute a high chemical stability due to a favorable tolerance to volume change caused by phase separation and structural collapse during the charge/discharge process. The synergistic effect makes MXene/MPFs film deliver a capacitance of 326.1 F g^?1 at 0.1 A g^?1, 1.64 F cm^?2 at 1 mA cm^?2, 694.2 F cm^?3 at 1 mA cm^?3 and a durability of about 30 000 cycles. The flexible symmetric supercapacitor shows an areal capacitance of 408 mF cm^?2, areal energy density of 20.4 µW h cm^?2, and capacitance retention of 95.9% after 7000 cycles. This work paves an avenue for the further exploration of 2D MOFs in flexible energy storage devices.     

A Phase‐Separation Route to Synthesize Porous CNTs with Excellent Stability for Na+ Storage

Porous carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are obtained by removing MoO₂ nanoparticles from MoO₂@C core@shell nanofibers which are synthesized by phase‐segregation via a single‐needle electrospinning method. The specific surface area of porous CNTs is 502.9 m² g^?1, and many oxygen‐containing functional groups (C? OH, C?O) are present. As anodes for sodium‐ion batteries, the porous CNT electrode displays excellent rate performance and cycling stability (110 mA h g^?1 after 1200 cycles at 5 A g^?1). Those high properties can be attributed to the porous structure and surface modification to steadily store Na⁺ with high capacity. The work provides a facile and broadly applicable way to fabricate the porous CNTs and their composites for batteries, catalysts, and fuel cells.     

Design Nitrogen (N) and Sulfur (S) Co‐Doped 3D Graphene Network Architectures for High‐Performance Sodium Storage

To develop high‐performance sodium‐ion batteries (NIBs), electrodes should possess well‐defined pathways for efficient electronic/ionic transport. In this work, high‐performance NIBs are demonstrated by designing a 3D interconnected porous structure that consists of N, S co‐doped 3D porous graphene frameworks (3DPGFs‐NS). The most typical electrode materials (i.e., Na₃V₂(PO₄)₃ (NVP), MoS₂, and TiO₂) are anchored onto the 3DPGFs‐NS matrix (denoted as NVP@C@3DPGFs‐NS; MoS₂@C@3DPGFs‐NS and TiO₂@C@3DPGFs‐NS) to demonstrate its general process to boost the energy density of NIBs. The N, S co‐doped porous graphene structure with a large surface area offers fast ionic transport within the electrode and facilitates efficient electron transport, and thus endows the 3DPGFs‐NS‐based composite electrodes with excellent sodium storage performance. The resulting NVP@C@3DPGFs‐NS displays excellent electrochemical performance as both cathode and anode for NIBs. The MoS₂@C@3DPGFs‐NS and TiO₂@C@3DPGFs‐NS deliver capacities of 317 mAhg^?1 at 5 Ag^?1 after 1000 cycles and 185 mAhg^?1 at 1 Ag^?1 after 2000 cycles, respectively. The excellent long cycle life is attributed to the 3D porous structure that could greatly release mechanical stress from repeated Na⁺ extraction/insertion. The novel structure 3D PGFs‐NS provides a general approach to modify electrodes of NIBs and holds great potential applications in other energy storage fields.     

3D Graphene Encapsulated Hollow CoSnO3 Nanoboxes as a High Initial Coulombic Efficiency and Lithium Storage Capacity Anode

3D Graphene sheets encapsulated amorphous hollow CoSnO₃ nanoboxes (H‐CoSnO₃@reduced graphene oxide [RGO]) are successfully fabricated by first preparing 3D graphene oxides encapsulated solid CoSn(OH)₆ nanocubes, followed by an alkaline etching process and subsequent heating treatment in Ar. The hollow CoSnO₃ nanoboxes with average particle size of 230 nm are uniformly and tightly encapsulated by RGO sheets. As an anode material for Li‐ion batteries, H‐CoSnO₃@RGO displays high initial Coulombic efficiency of 87.1% and large reversible capacity of 1919 mA h g^?1 after 500 cycles at the current density of 500 mA g^?1. Moreover, excellent rate capability (1250, 1188, 1141, 1115, 1086, 952, 736, and 528 mA h g^?1 at 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 1000, 2000, and 5000 mA g^?1, respectively) is acquired. The reasons for excellent lithium storage properties of H‐CoSnO₃@RGO are discussed in detail.     

Intertwined Nanocarbon and Manganese Oxide Hybrid Foam for High‐Energy Supercapacitors

Rapid charging and discharging supercapacitors are promising alternative energy storage systems for applications such as portable electronics and electric vehicles. Integration of pseudocapacitive metal oxides with single‐structured materials has received a lot of attention recently due to their superior electrochemical performance. In order to realize high energy‐density supercapacitors, a simple and scalable method is developed to fabricate a graphene/MWNT/MnO₂ nanowire (GMM) hybrid nanostructured foam, via a two‐step process. The 3D few‐layer graphene/MWNT (GM) architecture is grown on foamed metal foils (nickel foam) via ambient pressure chemical vapor deposition. Hydrothermally synthesized α‐MnO₂ nanowires are conformally coated onto the GM foam by a simple bath deposition. The as‐prepared hierarchical GMM foam yields a monographical graphene foam conformally covered with an intertwined, densely packed CNT/MnO₂ nanowire nanocomposite network. Symmetrical electrochemical capacitors (ECs) based on GMM foam electrodes show an extended operational voltage window of 1.6 V in aqueous electrolyte. A superior energy density of 391.7 Wh kg^?1 is obtained for the supercapacitor based on the GMM foam, which is much higher than ECs based on GM foam only (39.72 Wh kg^?1). A high specific capacitance (1108.79 F g^?1) and power density (799.84 kW kg^?1) are also achieved. Moreover, the great capacitance retention (97.94%) after 13 000 charge–discharge cycles and high current handability demonstrate the high stability of the electrodes of the supercapacitor. These excellent performances enable the innovative 3D hierarchical GMM foam to serve as EC electrodes, resulting in energy‐storage devices with high stability and power density in neutral aqueous electrolyte.     

Multifunctional Electroactive Heteroatom‐Doped Carbon Aerogels

The design and synthesis of highly active, durable, and cheap nanomaterials for various renewable energy storage and conversion applications is extremely desirable but remains challenging. Here, a green and efficient strategy to produce CoO_x nanoparticles and surface N‐co‐doped carbon aerogels (Co‐N‐CAs) is reported by multicomponent surface self‐assembly of commercially melamine sponge (CMS). In the methodology, the CMS simultaneously function as green N precursor for surface N doping and 3D support. The resulting Co‐N‐CAs exhibit 3D hierarchical, interconnected macro‐ and bimodal meso‐porosity (6.3 nm and <4 nm), high surface area (1383 m² g^?1), and highly dispersed, semi‐exposured CoO_x nanoparticles (diameter of 12.5 nm). The surface doping of N, semi‐exposured configuration of CoO_x nanoparticles and the penetrated complementary pores (<4 nm) in the carbon walls provide highly accessibility between electroactive components and electrolytes to improve reactivity. With their tailored architecture, the Co‐N‐CAs show superior electrocatalytic oxygen reduction (ORR) activities comparable to the commercially Pt/C catalysts, high specific capacitance (433 F g^?1), excellent lithium storage (938 mAh g^?1), and outstanding durability, making them very promising for advanced energy conversion and storage. In addition, the presented strategy can be extended to fabricate other metal oxide‐ and N‐ co‐doped carbon aerogels for diverse energy‐related applications.     

Biomass‐Derived Nitrogen‐Doped Carbon Nanofiber Network: A Facile Template for Decoration of Ultrathin Nickel‐Cobalt Layered Double Hydroxide Nanosheets as High‐Performance Asymmetric Supercapacitor Electrode

The development of biomass‐based energy storage devices is an emerging trend to reduce the ever‐increasing consumption of non‐renewable resources. Here, nitrogen‐doped carbonized bacterial cellulose (CBC‐N) nanofibers are obtained by one‐step carbonization of polyaniline coated bacterial cellulose (BC) nanofibers, which not only display excellent capacitive performance as the supercapacitor electrode, but also act as 3D bio‐template for further deposition of ultrathin nickel‐cobalt layered double hydroxide (Ni‐Co LDH) nanosheets. The as‐obtained CBC‐N@LDH composite electrodes exhibit significantly enhanced specific capacitance (1949.5 F g^?1 at a discharge current density of 1 A g^?1, based on active materials), high capacitance retention of 54.7% even at a high discharge current density of 10 A g^?1 and excellent cycling stability of 74.4% retention after 5000 cycles. Furthermore, asymmetric supercapacitors (ASCs) are constructed using CBC‐N@LDH composites as positive electrode materials and CBC‐N nanofibers as negative electrode materials. By virtue of the intrinsic pseudocapacitive characteristics of CBC‐N@LDH composites and 3D nitrogen‐doped carbon nanofiber networks, the developed ASC exhibits high energy density of 36.3 Wh kg^?1 at the power density of 800.2 W kg^?1. Therefore, this work presents a novel protocol for the large‐scale production of biomass‐derived high‐performance electrode materials in practical supercapacitor applications.     

Nitrogen‐Doped Graphene‐Buffered Mn2O3 Nanocomposite Anodes for Fast Charging and High Discharge Capacity Lithium‐Ion Batteries

Mn₂O₃ is a promising anode material for lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs) because of its high theoretical capacity and low discharge potential. However, low electronic conductivity and capacity fading limits its practical application. In this work, Mn₂O₃ with 1D nanowire geometry is synthesized in neutral aqueous solutions by a facile and effective hydrothermal strategy for the first time, and then Mn₂O₃ nanoparticle and nitrogen‐doped reduced graphene oxide (N‐rGO) are composited with Mn₂O₃ nanowires (Mn₂O₃‐GNCs) to enhance its volume utilization and conductivity. When used as an anode material for LIBs, the Mn₂O₃‐GNCs exhibit high reversible capacity (1350 mAh g^?1), stable cycling stability, and good rate capability. Surprisingly, the Mn₂O₃‐GNC electrodes can also show fast charging capability; even after 200 cycles (charge: 10 A g^?1; discharge: 0.5 A g^?1), its discharge capacity can also keep at ≈500 mAh g^?1. In addition, the Mn₂O₃‐GNCs also have considerable full cell and supercapacitor performance. The excellent electrochemical performances can be ascribed to the N‐rGO network structure and 1D nanowire structure, which can ensure fast ion and electron transportation.     

N‐Doped C@Zn3B2O6 as a Low Cost and Environmentally Friendly Anode Material for Na‐Ion Batteries: High Performance and New Reaction Mechanism

Na‐ion batteries (NIBs) are ideal candidates for solving the problem of large‐scale energy storage, due to the worldwide sodium resource, but the efforts in exploring and synthesizing low‐cost and eco‐friendly anode materials with convenient technologies and low‐cost raw materials are still insufficient. Herein, with the assistance of a simple calcination method and common raw materials, the environmentally friendly and nontoxic N‐doped C@Zn₃B₂O₆ composite is directly synthesized and proved to be a potential anode material for NIBs. The composite demonstrates a high reversible charge capacity of 446.2 mAh g^?1 and a safe and suitable average voltage of 0.69 V, together with application potential in full cells (discharge capacity of 98.4 mAh g^?1 and long cycle performance of 300 cycles at 1000 mA g^?1). In addition, the sodium‐ion storage mechanism of N‐doped C@Zn₃B₂O₆ is subsequently studied through air‐insulated ex situ characterizations of X‐ray diffraction (XRD), X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Fourier‐transform infrared (FT‐IR) spectroscopy, and is found to be rather different from previous reports on borate anode materials for NIBs and lithium‐ion batteries. The reaction mechanism is deduced and proposed as: Zn₃B₂O₆ + 6Na⁺ + 6e^? ? 3Zn + B₂O₃ ? 3Na₂O, which indicates that the generated boracic phase is electrochemically active and participates in the later discharge/charge progress.     

Ultrathin Nitrogen‐Doped Carbon Layer Uniformly Supported on Graphene Frameworks as Ultrahigh‐Capacity Anode for Lithium‐Ion Full Battery

The designable structure with 3D structure, ultrathin 2D nanosheets, and heteroatom doping are considered as highly promising routes to improve the electrochemical performance of carbon materials as anodes for lithium‐ion batteries. However, it remains a significant challenge to efficiently integrate 3D interconnected porous frameworks with 2D tunable heteroatom‐doped ultrathin carbon layers to further boost the performance. Herein, a novel nanostructure consisting of a uniform ultrathin N‐doped carbon layer in situ coated on a 3D graphene framework (NC@GF) through solvothermal self‐assembly/polymerization and pyrolysis is reported. The NC@GF with the nanosheets thickness of 4.0 nm and N content of 4.13 at% exhibits an ultrahigh reversible capacity of 2018 mA h g^?1 at 0.5 A g^?1 and an ultrafast charge–discharge feature with a remarkable capacity of 340 mA h g^?1 at an ultrahigh current density of 40 A g^?1 and a superlong cycle life with a capacity retention of 93% after 10 000 cycles at 40 A g^?1. More importantly, when coupled with LiFePO₄ cathode, the fabricated lithium‐ion full cells also exhibit high capacity and excellent rate and cycling performances, highlighting the practicability of this NC@GF.