Tailored Hollow Mesoporous Carbon Nanospheres from Soft Emulsions Enhance Kinetics in Sodium Batteries
Lu Liu, Sicheng Fan, Wendi Wang, Sixing Yin, Zirui Lv, Jie Zhang, Jingyu Zhang, Lanhao Yang, Yuzhu Ma, Qiulong Wei, Dongyuan Zhao, Kun Lan
Abstract
High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide Mesoporous materials endowed with a hollow structure offer ample opportunities due to their integrated functionalities; however, current approaches mainly rely on the recruitment of solid rigid templates, and feasible strategies with better simplicity and tunability remain infertile. Here, we report a novel emulsion-driven coassembly method for constructing a highly tailored hollow architecture in mesoporous carbon, which can be completely processed on oil–water liquid interfaces instead of a solid rigid template. Such a facile and flexible methodology relies on the subtle employment of a 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene (TMB) additive, which acts as both an emulsion template and a swelling agent, leading to a compatible integration of oil droplets and composite micelles. The solution-based assembly process also shows high controllability, endowing the hollow carbon mesostructure with a uniform morphology of hundreds of nanometers and tunable cavities from 0 to 130 nm in diameter and porosities (mesopore sizes 2.5–7.7 nm; surface area 179–355 m 2 g –1 ). Because of the unique features in permeability, diffusion, and surface access, the hollow mesoporous carbon nanospheres exhibit excellent high rate and cycling performances for sodium-ion storage. Our study reveals a cooperative assembly on the liquid interface, which could provide an alternative toolbox for constructing delicate mesostructures and complex hierarchies toward advanced technologies.