ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Hierarchical porous carbon/selenium composite derived from hydrothermal treated peanut shell as high-performance lithium ion battery cathode

Chen-Hao Zhao, Bo-Jun Peng, and Zhi-Biao Hu

College of Chemistry and Materials Science, LongYan University, LongYan, China

E-mail: 360188044@qq.com

Received: 21 August 2019  Accepted: 29 October 2019

Abstract:

Peanut shell-derived porous carbon has been prepared by the KOH-assisted hydrothermal treatment and subsequent carbonization route. The influences of KOH concentrations on structure of resulting carbon are clearly studied. At a KOH concentration of 5 M, the obtained porous carbon, possessing inner micropores and surface macropores, has a specific surface area of 827.7 m²/g and moderate porous size. The amorphous Se is uniformly encapsulated into its microporous structure to form hierarchical porous carbon/selenium composite. As the cathode material of Li ion battery, this composite delivers an initial discharge capacity of 590.6 mA h/g with Coulombic efficiency of 71.6% at 0.2 C, and a high capacity retention ratio of 83.3% can be reached after 500 cycles at 2 C. Even at a high rate of 4 C, this composite still presents a discharge capacity of 405.8 mA h/g. By comparison, these improved electrochemical performances may be attributed to the hierarchical porous feature, moderate porous size and effective encapsulation of selenium.

Keywords: Hydrothermal assisted; KOH solution; Hierarchical porous carbon; Carbon/Se composite; Li–Se battery

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.1007/s11696-019-00985-6

Chemical Papers 74 (4) 1289–1299 (2020)