Sn nanoparticles anchored on N doped porous carbon as an anode for potassium ion batteries

Abstract

Owing to the rich abundance and low-cost of K resources, potassium-ion batteries (KIBs) have been a promising alternative to lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The exploration of suitable anode materials is challenging but of great importance for KIBs development. Alloying anodes such as Sn, Sb and their oxides have been proved as promising anode materials for KIBs due to their high specific capacities. Here, Sn nanoparticles uniformly anchored on N doped porous carbon (Sn/NPC) are prepared using simple sol-gel method and heat treatment. As support skeleton, NPC endows Sn/NPC good conductivity and prevent agglomeration of Sn nanoparticles, which can be beneficial for high capability and rate performance. When evaluated as anode of KIBs, enhanced capacity of 198 mAh g−1 is achieved at a current density of 50 mA g−1 after 200 cycles.