Popcorn Inspired Porous Macrocellular Carbon: Rapid Puffing Fabrication from Rice and Its Applications in Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

The advancement of electrochemical energy storage is closely bound up with the breakthrough of controllable fabrication of energy materials. Inspired by a popcorn fabrication from corn raw, herein a unique porous macrocellular carbon composed of cross-linked nano/microsheets by a powerful puffing of rice precursor is described. The rice is directly puffed with a volume enlargement of approximate to 20 times when it is instantaneously released from a sealed environment with a high pressure of 1.0 MPa at 200 degrees C. Interestingly, when metal (e.g., Ni) nanoparticles are embedded in the puffed rice derived carbon (PRC), high-quality PRC/metal composites are achieved with attractive properties of a high electrical conductivity of approximate to 7.2 x 10(4) S m(-1), a large porosity of 85.1%, and a surface area of 1492.2 m(2) g(-1). The PRC/Ni are employed as a host in lithium-sulfur batteries. The designed PRC/Ni/S electrode exhibits a high reversible capacity of 1257.2 mA h g(-1) at 0.2 C, a prolonged cycle life (821 mA h g(-1) after 500 cycles), and enhanced rate capability, much better than other counterparts (PRC/S and rGO/S). The excellent properties are attributed to the advantages of PRC/Ni network with a high electrical conductivity, strong adsorption/blocking ability for polysulfides, and interconnected porous framework.