Nanodiamonds in bio-carbon anodes realizing high performances of sodium-ion batteries

Abstract

The development of novel anode material has been an important strategy to improve the performances of sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). In this work, the detonation nanodiamonds (NDs) were mixed with pinecone bio-carbon (PBC) powder to form hybrid PBC-ND anode. The SIBs assembling with the PBC-ND anodes (at an optimized ND content of 0.5 wt%) have capacities of ∼500 mA h g−1 after 100 cycles at 0.2 C (1 C ∼279 mA h g−1) and ∼170 mA h g−1 after 500 cycles at 2 C, which are significantly higher than the cases of SIBs with traditional carbonaceous and/or bio-carbon anodes. The enhancements are mainly attributed to the NDs-induced abundant active sites and the increased sodium ions (Na-ions) adsorption in the anodes. Further, taking into account the unique properties of NDs (i.e., high Na-ion adsorption ability, large surface area, superhardness, chemical inertness, and catalytic features), those NDs effectively enhance the SIBs' reversible capacity, cycling stability, and rate capability. These results demonstrate that the bio-carbon anodes with NDs show highly efficient performances for SIBs applied in broad fields.