Tuning Rational Micropore/Mesopores Network Structure of Biomass-Derived Carbon/Sulfur Cathode for High-Performance Na-S Batteries

Abstract

Sluggish electrode kinetics and polysulfide dissolution severely hinder room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries (RT Na-S) from achieving high-theoretical capacity and low cost. Metal-based catalysts are often used to absorb polysulfide intermediates against the shuttle effect in Na-S batteries, but rationalization of an electrode pore structure to improve battery performance is ignored. Herein, a rational micropore/mesopore network structure of macadamia nut shell-derived carbon is constructed as a carbon/sulfur cathode by tuning the ratio of micro to mesopore. The cathode simultaneously boosts mass transport for high-rate performance while confining the shuttle effect for long cycles, thus delivering excellent Na-storage performance with high capacities of 912 mAh g^–1 at 0.1 A g^–1 and 360 mAh g^–1 at 5 A g^–1, ranking the best among all reported plain carbon-based sodium-sulfur electrodes. This work holds great promise for biomass-derived inexpensive plain carbon-based electrodes in practical high-rate applications, while shedding light on the fundamentals of pore structure effects of a carbon electrode on high-performance batteries, thus possessing universal significance in the designs of rational pore structures in energy conversions.

Keywords

biomass / carbon–sulfur cathode / mass transfer / micro-/mesopore ratio / sodium-sulfur battery

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2025 The Author(s). Energy & Environmental Materials published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Zhengzhou University.