Biochemical fulvic acid derived amorphous carbon modified microcrystalline graphite as low-cost anode for potassium-ion storage

Pengcheng Zhuo; Jiangmin Jiang; Ye Jiang; Yesheng Hao; Qi He; Ting Chen; Erfa Ding; Yuanming Zhang; Yu Han; Weihan Si; Zhicheng Ju; Yijun Cao; Yaowen Xing; Xiahui Gui

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2023.05.195

Biochemical fulvic acid derived amorphous carbon modified microcrystalline graphite as low-cost anode for potassium-ion storage

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2023 Oct 15:648:108-116. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.05.195. Epub 2023 Jun 3.

Authors

Pengcheng Zhuo¹, Jiangmin Jiang², Ye Jiang³, Yesheng Hao¹, Qi He¹, Ting Chen¹, Erfa Ding¹, Yuanming Zhang¹, Yu Han¹, Weihan Si¹, Zhicheng Ju³, Yijun Cao¹, Yaowen Xing⁴, Xiahui Gui⁵

Affiliations

¹ National Engineering Research Center of Coal Preparation and Purification, School of Materials and Physics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China; College of Chemical Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China.
² National Engineering Research Center of Coal Preparation and Purification, School of Materials and Physics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China; Jiangsu Province Engineering Laboratory of High Efficient Energy Storage Technology and Equipments, School of Materials and Physics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China. Electronic address: jiangmin326@163.com.
³ National Engineering Research Center of Coal Preparation and Purification, School of Materials and Physics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China; Jiangsu Province Engineering Laboratory of High Efficient Energy Storage Technology and Equipments, School of Materials and Physics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China.
⁴ National Engineering Research Center of Coal Preparation and Purification, School of Materials and Physics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China; College of Chemical Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China. Electronic address: cumtxyw@126.com.
⁵ National Engineering Research Center of Coal Preparation and Purification, School of Materials and Physics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China; College of Chemical Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221116, China. Electronic address: guixiahui1985@163.com.

PMID: 37295362
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2023.05.195

Abstract

Graphite anode has great potential toward potassium ion storage for abundant reserves, yet it suffers from the large volume expansion and slow diffusion rate. Herein, the low-cost biochemical fulvic acid-derived amorphous carbon (BFAC) is employed to modify the natural microcrystalline graphite (BFAC@MG) by a simple mixed carbonization strategy. The BFAC smooths the split layer and folds on the surface of microcrystalline graphite and builds the heteroatom-doped composite structure, which effectively alleviates the volume expansion caused by K⁺ electrochemical de-intercalation processes, together with improving electrochemical reaction kinetics. As expected, the optimized BFAC@MG-0.5 exhibits superior potassium-ion storage performance, which delivers a high reversible capacity (623.8 mAh g^-1), excellent rate performance (147.8 mAh g^-1 at 2 A g^-1), and remarkable cycling stability (100.8 mAh g^-1 after 1200 cycles). As a practical device application, the potassium-ion capacitors are assembled using the BFAC@MG-0.5 anode and commercial activated carbon cathode, which exhibits a maximum energy density of 126.48 Wh kg^-1 and superior cycle stability. Significantly, this work demonstrates the potential of microcrystalline graphite as the host anode material for potassium-ion storage.

Keywords: Anode materials; Heteroatom-doping; Microcrystalline graphite; Potassium-ion capacitors; Volume expansion.