Effect of Sulfur Modification on Structural and Electrochemical Performance of Pitch-Based Carbon Materials for Lithium/Sodium Ion Batteries
Zihui Ma, Zhe Wen, Yan Song, Tao Yang, Xiaodong Tian, Jinru Wu, Yaxiong Liu, Zhanjun Liu, Huiqi Wang
Abstract
Coal tar pitch (CTP) has become an ideal choice in the preparation of anode precursors for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) because of its abundant carbon content, competitive pricing and adjustable structure properties. In this paper, sulfurized pitch-based carbon (SPC-800) was obtained by allowing CTP to react with sulfur at 350 °C and subsequently achieve carbonization at 800 °C. SPC-800 was more disordered and had a larger layer spacing than carbonized CTP (PC-800). Upon utilization as an anode for LIBs, SPC-800 possessed a higher reversible specific capacity (478.1 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1), while utilization in SIBs displayed a capacity of 220.9 mAh g−1 at 20 mA g−1. This work is an important guide to the design of high-performance anodes suitable for use with both LIBs and SIBs.