Wedelia chinensis-derived biomass porous carbon as anode material for high performance sodium/potassium-ion batteries

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) and potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) are potential alternatives of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to the abundant and cost-effective availability of sodium and potassium resources. Unfortunately, they are difficult to use for large-scale grid energy storage due to the lack of suitable anode materials for sodium/potassium energy storage. Biomass-derived carbon, which is widely available and environmentally friendly, is one of the most promising anode materials for SIBs/PIBs, but the design and regulation of its microstructure is exceptionally complex. By selecting suitable biomass precursors, it is expected that biomass-derived carbon with suitable microstructures can be simply prepared. In this study, Wedelia chinensis were selected as biomass precursors, and biomass-derived carbon materials with large interfacial spacing, suitable pores and high-specific surface area were prepared by a simple one-step pyrolysis method. The material exhibited fast energy storage kinetics when electrochemically tested as an anode and showed different performance advantages in storing sodium/potassium. When tested as an anode for SIBs, it exhibited excellent specific capacity and cycling stability (380.7 mA h g⁻¹ after 500 cycles at 100 mA g⁻¹); When tested as an anode for PIBs, it exhibited excellent rate performance (128.6 mA h g⁻¹ at 10 A g⁻¹).