Direct chitin conversion to N-doped amorphous carbon nanofibers for high-performing full sodium-ion batteries

• Published in: Nano energy 2018-03, Vol.45, p.220-228
• Main Authors: Hao, Rui, Yang, Yun, Wang, Hua, Jia, Binbin, Ma, Guanshui, Yu, Dandan, Guo, Lin, Yang, Shihe
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Carbon nanofibers; Energy storage; Full sodium ion battery; Heteroatom doping; Renewability; Synergistic effects
• ISSN: 2211-2855
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2017.12.042

Currently, renewable and low-cost electrode materials are being intensively pursued to meet the development of sustainable electrochemical energy-storage systems. Chitin, which is the second most abundant biopolymer throughout the natural world and can be sourced cheaply from the exoskeletons of arthropods and shells of cephalopods, has many attractive properties such as renewability, nontoxicity, intrinsically fibrous structure and high nitrogen content. In this study, nitrogen-doped amorphous carbon nanofibers (NACF) fabricated by direct pyrolysis of chitin, were used as the anode material in sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) for the first time. The NACF electrode delivered a high reversible capacity of 320.6mAhg−1 with excellent rate capability and long cyclability. The superior electrochemical performance can mainly be attributed to synergistic effects of the unique one-dimensional mesoporous nanofibers facilitating the transmission of electrons/electrolyte, and the N-doped amorphous nanostructure increasing electrical conductivity and number of active sites. Furthermore, a sodium-ion full cell was constructed by coupling the NACF electrode with a Prussian blue cathode, and it delivered 115mAhg−1 while retaining 90% of the capacity after 200 cycles. Our work will hopefully inspire the research community to explore other advanced materials with value-added attributes that can be generated by appropriate treatment of renewable bio-waste. N-doped amorphous carbon nanofibers can be fabricated via facile direct pyrolysis of the bio-waste chitin. The as-prepared unique porous structure provides stable channels for electron/electrolyte transmission and more active sites for sodium-ion adsorption and storage, leading to a high specific capacity, energy density and extremely long cycle life. The renewable chitin-derived high-performance electrodes will have an important place in low-cost energy-storage devices. [Display omitted] •N-doped amorphous carbon nanofibers (NACFs) are fabricated by pyrolysis of chitin.•NACFs based sodium-ion anode exhibits outstanding electrochemical performance.•A high-performance full cell is constructed by NACFs anode and Prussian blue cathode.