Tire-derived carbon composite anodes for sodium-ion batteries

Hard-carbon materials are considered as one of the most promising anodes for the emerging sodium-ion batteries. Here, we report a low-cost, scalable waste tire-derived carbon as an anode for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). Tire-derived carbons obtained by pyrolyzing acid-treated tire at 1100 degrees C, 1400 degrees C and 1600 degrees C show capacities of 179,185 and 203 mAh g(-1), respectively, after 100 cycles at a current density of 20 mA g(-1) in sodium-ion batteries with good electrochemical stability. The portion of the low-voltage plateau region in the charge-discharge curves increases as the heat-treatment temperature increases. The low-voltage plateau is beneficial to enhance the energy density of the full cell. This study provides a new pathway for inexpensive, environmentally benign and value-added waste tire-derived products towards large-scale energy storage applications. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.