Constructing long‐cycling crystalline C3N4‐based carbonaceous anodes for sodium‐ion battery via N configuration control

• Published in: Carbon energy 2024-01, Vol.6 (1), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Wang, Ying, Li, Hongguan, Di, Shuanlong, Zhai, Boyin, Niu, Ping, Kelarakis, Antonios, Wang, Shulan, Li, Li
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adsorption; Alternative energy; anode; Anodes; Carbon; Carbon nitride; Charge transfer; Composite materials; Configurations; Cycles; Electrode materials; Electrodes; Energy storage; Graphite; highly crystalline C3N4; Molten salts; Morphology; N configuration; Nitrogen; Polymerization; Salt; Sodium; Sodium-ion batteries; Structural stability; Triazine; ultra‐long cyclic stability
• ISSN: 2637-9368; 2637-9368
• DOI: 10.1002/cey2.388

Carbon nitrides with two‐dimensional layered structures and high theoretical capacities are attractive as anode materials for sodium‐ion batteries while their low crystallinity and insufficient structural stability strongly restrict their practical applications. Coupling carbon nitrides with conductive carbon may relieve these issues. However, little is known about the influence of nitrogen (N) configurations on the interactions between carbon and C3N4, which is fundamentally critical for guiding the precise design of advanced C3N4‐related electrodes. Herein, highly crystalline C3N4 (poly (triazine imide), PTI) based all‐carbon composites were developed by molten salt strategy. More importantly, the vital role of pyrrolic‐N for enhancing charge transfer and boosting Na+ storage of C3N4‐based composites, which was confirmed by both theoretical and experimental evidence, was spot‐highlighted for the first time. By elaborately controlling the salt composition, the composite with high pyrrolic‐N and minimized graphitic‐N content was obtained. Profiting from the formation of highly crystalline PTI and electrochemically favorable pyrrolic‐N configurations, the composite delivered an unusual reverse growth and record‐level cycling stability even after 5000 cycles along with high reversible capacity and outstanding full‐cell capacity retention. This work broadens the energy storage applications of C3N4 and provides new prospects for the design of advanced all‐carbon electrodes. The polymerization process of C3N4 and nitrogen configurations of its carbonaceous composite were optimized by binary eutectic salt treatment. Benefiting from the introduction of crystalline C3N4 and high‐content pyrrolic‐N, the composite delivered a high capacity of 221.2 mAh g−1 with a capacity retention of 118.5% at 2 A g−1 over 5000 cycles for Na+ storage.