Sulfur-Doped Flowerlike Porous Carbon Derived from Metal-Organic Frameworks as a High-Performance Potassium-Ion Battery Anode

Amorphous carbon shows great potential in Kt storage due to its low cost and adjustable interlayer distance. However, the sluggish diffusion kinetics for K+ in carbon lattice and unsatisfied capacity hinder the further application of carbon materials such as a PIB anode. Herein, we reported the MIL-88A-derived sulfur-doped porous carbon for a potassium-ion battery (PIB) anode using a facile multistep strategy. Benefiting from the unique structure of the MIL-88A precursor, the obtained carbon material with a three-dimensional (3D) open framework has a large specific area to shorten the K+ transport path. At the same time, S dopants introduce more defects and then promote K9 storage capability. Therefor; the sulfur-doped porous carbon anode shows a high reversible capacity over 358 mA h g and extraordinary rate performance (192.6 mA h g(-1) at 2.0 A g(-1)). The first-principles calculations confirm that the functional S doping in the carbon matrix promotes K adsorption.

Automated summary

The research presents a new sulfur-doped porous carbon derived from MIL-88A as an anode material for potassium-ion batteries (PIB). The carbon material has a three-dimensional open framework and a large specific area to shorten the K+ transport path, while the sulfur dopants introduce more defects and enhance K+ storage capability. This results in high reversible capacity and excellent rate performance for the sulfur-doped porous carbon anode in PIB applications.