A simple pyrolysis of bio-wastes to prepare N, and P co-doped porous carbon for lithium-sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) are promising energy-storage devices, but are limited to rapid capacity decay due to the serious lithium polysulfide shuttling effect. Heteroatoms doped porous carbon holds great potential in LSBs cathode because of its high specific surface area, ample pore size and excellent electrical conductivity. Simple synthesis of porous carbon is crucial for practical application of LSBs. Herein, we fabricate an N, P co-doped porous carbon (NPPC) by one-step solid-state pyrolysis of the mixture of bio-wastes (peanut meal) and potassium hydroxide. The NPPC displays a hierarchically porous structure with high specific surface area (2090 m(2)/g). As a result, the S/NPPC shows a high initial reversible capacity of 1406 mAh g(-1) at 0.1 C and excellent cycling performance (512 mAh g(-1) at 3 C after 1000 cycles). This work develops a simple method to convert abandoned bio-wastes into ideal LSBs cathode materials.

Automated summary

In this study, an N, P co-doped porous carbon (NPPC) was synthesized by one-step solid-state pyrolysis of a mixture of bio-wastes and potassium hydroxide. The NPPC displayed a hierarchically porous structure with high specific surface area. The S/NPPC composite material showed a high initial reversible capacity and excellent cycling performance in a lithium-sulfur battery. This work provides a simple method to convert abandoned bio-wastes into ideal cathode materials for lithium-sulfur batteries.