A N/S/O-tridoped hard carbon network anode from mercaptan/polyurethane-acrylate resin for potassium-ion batteries

Hard carbon is a promising anode material for potassium-ion batteries (KIBs) due to its disordered and non-expendable framework. However, the potassium storage performance in hard carbon still needs to be further improved. In this paper, functional nitrogen, sulfur and oxygen tri-doped hard carbon network (NSO-HCN), prepared through a carbonization-etching strategy using the precursor of mercaptan/polyurethane-acrylate (MPUA) resin, was promoted as the anode for KIBs. The obtained amorphous NSO-HCN possessed a porous 3D interconnected carbon network structure with an expanded interlayer distance (0.391 nm) and a large Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific area (500.4 m(2)/g). These features allowed the NSO-HCN to deliver a high potassiation capacity of 209.6 mAh/g at 50 mA/g over 100 cycles and a favorable cycling stability by preserving potassiation capacities of 184.2, 146.8, and 136.0 mAh/g over 200 cycles at 100, 200 and 500 mA/g, respectively.

Automated summary

This paper presents a functional nitrogen, sulfur, and oxygen tri-doped hard carbon network as the anode material for potassium-ion batteries, delivering high potassiation capacity and cycling stability through its unique structure and properties.