Defect-free soft carbon as cathode material for Al-ion batteries

• Published in: Ionics 2019-03, Vol.25 (3), p.1235-1242
• Main Authors: Qiao, Jia, Zhou, Haitao, Liu, Zhongsheng, Wen, Hejing, Yang, Jianhong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aluminum-ion batteries; Carbon; Cathodes; Chemical energy; Chemistry; Chemistry and Materials Science; Coke; Condensed Matter Physics; Discharge; Electrochemistry; Electrode materials; Energy Storage; Graphene; Graphitization; Microspheres; Optical and Electronic Materials; Organic chemistry; Original Paper; Petroleum coke; Rechargeable batteries; Renewable and Green Energy; Storage batteries; Storage capacity
• ISSN: 0947-7047; 1862-0760
• DOI: 10.1007/s11581-019-02896-8

Al-ion batteries are proposed as promising energy storage candidates for beyond Li-ion technology due to the higher natural earth of Al metal. Recently, various graphite and graphene cathodes for Al-ion batteries have been studied in this regard, but their costs are not satisfactory. In this study, a novel cathode for Al-ion batteries is prepared by graphitizing inexpensive soft carbon materials (mesocarbon microspheres and petroleum coke) at 2800 °C. The charge and discharge process is showcased here for graphitized petroleum coke, which has a storage capacity of 77.7 mAh g −1 with two high discharge voltage (~ 2.25 and 1.80 V), higher than graphitized mesocarbon microspheres (51 mAh g −1 ). It also has excellent cycle stability and no reduction in specific capacity after 1000 cycles. Affordable cost of the graphitized petroleum coke cathode makes Al-ion battery more promising for large-scale chemical energy storage.