Low-Cost and Scalable Fabrication of Hierarchically Porous N-Doped Carbon for Energy Storage and Conversion Application

In this work, we successfully synthesize a hierarchical porous N-doped carbon material via a low-cost, facile and scalable spray-drying method followed with subsequent pyrolysis. This unique material delivers excellent electrochemical properties in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) with high reversible capacity and long cycle life and high selectivity for CO2 electrochemical reduction. The good electrochemical performance results from the novel hierarchical porous structure, which is in favor of electrolyte penetration, electron transfer, and structural stability. Furthermore, the porous N-doped carbon can also support abundant active sites to tailor the physicochemical properties of the body material. The electrode shows good electrochemical properties with reversible capacities of 212.2 mAh g(-1) after 1800 cycles for LIBs and 205 mAh g(-1) after 200 cycles for SIBs, and a highest faradaic efficiency (FE) of 81.3 % for CO2 reduction. This facile, low-cost and scalable fabrication process makes the novel hierarchical carbon material as a solid candidate for energy storage and conversion.