Heteroatom Doping Combined with Microstructured Carbon to Enhance the Performance of Sodium‐Ion Batteries

Abstract

AbstractA simple and effective procedure for the synthesis of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) co‐doped carbon accompanied by the formation of favorable microstructure is developed. The synthesized N and S co‐doped carbon materials are thoroughly investigated by electron microscopy, X‐ray diffractometry, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and nitrogen adsorption measurements. When applied as anodes in sodium‐ion batteries, high sodium storage capacities and excellent cyclic stability are obtained. It is observed that the contents of N and S atoms and the microstructure of the carbon have a significant effect on the performance of sodium‐ion battery. Under optimized synthetic conditions, the N and S co‐doped carbon materials have a specific capacity of 287.2 mA h g−1 in the second cycle and a stable specific capacity of 232.6 mA h g−1 even after 500 cycles at 0.5 A g−1. Moreover, the simple and facile procedure can be conventionally adopted for the preparation of other heteroatom‐doped carbon materials.