Carbon with Expanded and Well-Developed Graphene Planes Derived Directly from Condensed Lignin as a High-Performance Anode for Sodium-Ion Batteries

In this study, we demonstrate that lignin, which constitutes 30–40 wt % of the terrestrial lignocellulosic biomass and is produced from second generation biofuel plants as a cheap byproduct, is an excellent precursor material for sodium-ion battery (NIB) anodes. Because it is rich in aromatic monomers that are highly cross-linked by ether and condensed bonds, the lignin material carbonized at 1300 °C (C-1300) in this study has small graphitic domains with well-developed graphene layers, a large interlayer spacing (0.403 nm), and a high micropore surface area (207.5 m 2 g –1 ). When tested as an anode in an NIB, C-1300 exhibited an initial Coulombic efficiency of 68% and a high reversible capacity of 297 mA h g –1 at 50 mA g –1 after 50 cycles. The high capacity of 199 mA h g –1 at less than 0.1 V with a flat voltage profile and an extremely low charge–discharge voltage hysteresis (<0.03 V) make C-1300 a promising energy-dense electrode material. In addition, C-1300 exhibited an excellent high-rate performance of 116 mA h g –1 at 2.5 A g –1 and showed stable cycling retention (0.2% capacity decay per cycle after 500 cycles). By comparing the properties of the lignin-derived carbon with oak sawdust-derived and sugar-derived carbons and a low-temperature carbonized sample (900 °C), the reasons for the excellent performance of C-1300 were determined to result from facilitated Na + -ion transport to the graphitic layer and the microporous regions that penetrate through the less defective and enlarged interlayer spacings.