Solar irradiated construction of coordinatively unsaturated Znx+ (0<X<2) sites on biomass-derived carbon for enhanced lithium ions storage

Biomass-derived carbon is regarded as a potential replacement for commercial graphite carbon for the anode of powerful lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), because of its abundance and ecological advantage. In this research, biomass-derived carbon is prepared from natural Carex meyeriana Kunth, and the biomass-derived carbon electrode with coordinatively unsaturated Zn x+ (0 < x < 2) sites is synthesized by solar irradiation . The Zn x+ (0 < x < 2) electrode is used as the LIBs anode. It provides a highly specific capacity of 638.6 mAh g −1  at 200 mA g −1 after 900 cycles and an outstanding cycling capacity of 614.9 mAh g −1  at 1000 mA g −1 after 1000 cycles. The capacity of the electrode exceeds the majority of reported carbonaceous anodes. This study presents a practical strategy to prepare novel and low-cost carbonaceous anode. The resulting anode has promising potential for use in advanced LIBs and other energy storage devices due to its excellent Li + storage capability.