Synergistically catalytic regulation of surface chemistry on coal based needle coke by bimetallic interface for enhanced Li/Na storage

Abstract

The oxygen functional groups (OFGs) on carbon surface are electrochemically active for rapid Li/Na storage, and always are introduced with environment-hazardous and time-consuming ways. Herein, the bimetallic synergistic effect between Fe and Ni metal nanoparticles is proved experimentally to promote the conversion from useless C–O groups to useful CO groups on the surface of needle coke (NC) greatly. In addition, the DFT calculations show that introducing second metals increase the active electrons of single metals, and the activity of transforming C–O bond to CO bond thus makes a difference in bimetallic systems. Among the modified samples, Fe/Ni-NC contains abundant CO groups, stripe like graphite domains, excellent electronic conductivity and large interlayer spacing. Therefore, Fe/Ni-NC anode shows the excellent capacities in half batteries (212/305.2 mA h g−1 after 1000/2000 cycles at 2.0/5.0 A g−1 in SIB/LIB) and full batteries (86/145 mA h g−1 in SIB/LIB at 0.05 A g−1 after 100 cycles), significantly better than other carbon materials. The work provides a practical and significant reference to regulate precisely the surface energy storage active sites of coal based carbon material, aiming at advanced SIB and LIB.