The g-C3N4-derived nanoarchitectonics of nitrogen-doped carbon material as a high-rate performance anode for potassium ion batteries

Due to the advantages of abundant precursors, simple preparation, and environmental friendliness, nitrogendoped carbon is considered one of the most potential anodes for potassium ion batteries (PIBs). Here, nitrogen-doped carbon materials (NC-2) were prepared by using secondary exfoliated g-C3N4 as a precursor, combined with sucrose, and subjected to hydrothermal and high-temperature pyrolysis. NC-2 is characterized by high nitrogen content, porous layered structure, and large interlayer spacing. NC-2 used as anode of PIBs shows a high reversible capacity of 261.07 mAh g-1 at 0.1 A g-1 and an impressive rate performance of 153.36 mAh g-1 at 2 A g-1. The impressive performance of NC-2 can be originated from the porous layered structure and enlarged interlayer spacing promotes the intercalation/deintercalation and the diffusion of K ions, and the defective carbon structure formed after nitrogen doping can supply abundant active sites for K ions. The results show that NC-2 has great potential in the field of PIBs anode.