Hard carbon nanospheres derived from copper-ion-mediated crystalline topological regulation for efficient sodium-ion storage

C Congxiu Li (Collaborative Innovation Center of Sustainable Energy Materials, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy Materials, State Key Laboratory of Featured Metal Materials and Life-cycle Safety for Composite Structures , Nanning 530004,) X Xinxin Xu (International Joint Research Laboratory for Biointerface and Biodetection) W Wenjing Fan (School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Shandong University Jinan P. R. China) C Cunhuai Yu (Collaborative Innovation Center of Sustainable Energy Materials, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy Materials, State Key Laboratory of Featured Metal Materials and Life-Cycle Safety for Composite Structures , Nanning 530004,) P Pingping Lan (Collaborative Innovation Center of Sustainable Energy Materials, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy Materials, State Key Laboratory of Featured Metal Materials and Life-cycle Safety for Composite Structures , Nanning 530004,) W Wenli Zhu (Division of Molecular and Cell Biology, School of Life Science and Technology, China Pharmaceutical University) X Xianlu Lu (Collaborative Innovation Center of Sustainable Energy Materials, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy Materials, State Key Laboratory of Featured Metal Materials and Life-cycle Safety for Composite Structures , Nanning 530004,) P Pei Kang Shen (Collaborative Innovation Center of Sustainable Energy Materials, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy Materials, State Key Laboratory of Featured Metal Materials and Life-cycle Safety for Composite Structures , Nanning 530004,) Z Zhi Qun Tian (Collaborative Innovation Center of Sustainable Energy Materials, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy Materials, State Key Laboratory of Featured Metal Materials and Life-cycle Safety for Composite Structures , Nanning 530004,)

Abstract

Modulating graphite lattices in hard carbons derived from artificial organic polymer precursors is critical to achieve highly consistent anode materials for efficient sodium-ion storage. Herein, hard carbon nanospheres with highly disordered and twisted graphite-like lattices were developed by pyrolyzing a Cu-coordinated polymer with bisimide–pyridine ligands as a precursor. Results demonstrate that incorporating Cu ion in the precursor not only effectively alters the morphology of the correspondingly obtained carbons from bulk to nanospheres, but also enables the transformation from ordered graphite lattices to a disordered structure, resulting in significantly improved sodium storage. The optimized hard carbons feature uniform nanospheres with an expanded interlayer spacing (0.386 nm) and limited graphitic stacking (∼3 layers), exhibiting a high reversible capacity of 365.64 mAh g−1 with a remarkable plateau capacity of 208.96 mAh g−1 (< 0.1 V), along with a high rate performance (215.58 mAh g−1 at 5 A g−1) and cycling stability for up to 5000 cycles, outperforming the carbon obtained without Cu2+ and a majority of previously reported hard carbons derived from artificial polymers. Moreover, theoretical calculations reveal that the appropriate interlayer spacing and graphite stacking layers are crucial for efficient Na+ storage. This Cu-induced hard carbon nanosphere from an artificial precursor provides a new route for modulating the graphite lattices of hard carbons for efficient sodium-ion storage.

Article Details

Volume / Issue Vol. 128, Issue 24
Published June 15, 2026
ISSN 0003-6951
Publisher American Institute of Physics

Journal Info

Applied Physics Letters

American Institute of Physics

ISSN: 0003-6951 Physical Sciences

Authors (9)

C

Congxiu Li

Collaborative Innovation Center of Sustainable Energy Materials, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy Materials, State Key Laboratory of Featured Metal Materials and Life-cycle Safety for Composite Structures , Nanning 530004,

X

Xinxin Xu

International Joint Research Laboratory for Biointerface and Biodetection

W

Wenjing Fan

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Shandong University Jinan P. R. China

C

Cunhuai Yu

Collaborative Innovation Center of Sustainable Energy Materials, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy Materials, State Key Laboratory of Featured Metal Materials and Life-Cycle Safety for Composite Structures , Nanning 530004,

P

Pingping Lan

Collaborative Innovation Center of Sustainable Energy Materials, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy Materials, State Key Laboratory of Featured Metal Materials and Life-cycle Safety for Composite Structures , Nanning 530004,

W

Wenli Zhu

Division of Molecular and Cell Biology, School of Life Science and Technology, China Pharmaceutical University

X

Xianlu Lu

Collaborative Innovation Center of Sustainable Energy Materials, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy Materials, State Key Laboratory of Featured Metal Materials and Life-cycle Safety for Composite Structures , Nanning 530004,

P

Pei Kang Shen

Collaborative Innovation Center of Sustainable Energy Materials, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy Materials, State Key Laboratory of Featured Metal Materials and Life-cycle Safety for Composite Structures , Nanning 530004,

Z

Zhi Qun Tian

Collaborative Innovation Center of Sustainable Energy Materials, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy Materials, State Key Laboratory of Featured Metal Materials and Life-cycle Safety for Composite Structures , Nanning 530004,