Revealing an Extended Adsorption/Insertion-Filling Sodium Storage Mechanism in Petroleum Coke-Derived Amorphous Carbon.

Amorphous carbon holds great promise as anode material for sodium-ion batteries due to its cost-effectiveness and good performance. However, its sodium storage mechanism, particularly the insertion process and origin of plateau capacity, remains controversial. Here, an extended adsorption/insertion-filling sodium storage mechanism is proposed using petroleum coke-derived amorphous carbon as a multi-microcrystalline model.

Soft Carbon as Cathode with High Rate Performance for Dual-Ion Batteries via Fast PF Intercalation Improved by Surface Effect.

Dual-ion battery is a new type of battery in which both anions and cations participate in the energy storage process. However, this unique battery configuration imposes high requirements on the cathode, which typically presents a poor rate performance due to the sluggish diffusion dynamics and intercalation reaction kinetics of anions. Herein, we report petroleum coke-based soft carbon as the cathode for dual-ion batteries, exhibiting a superior rate performance with a specific capacity of 96 mAh g at a rate of 2 C and 72 mAh g remained even at 50 C.