Biochemical fulvic acid derived amorphous carbon modified microcrystalline graphite as low-cost anode for potassium-ion storage

The low-cost biochemical fulvic acid-derived amorphous carbon (BFAC) is employed to modify the natural microcrystalline graphite (MG) by a simple mixed carbonization strategy. The BFAC smooths split-layer and fold on the surface of MG and builds the heteroatom-doped composite structure, which effectively alleviates the volume expansion together with improving electrochemical reaction kinetics, leading to a superior potassium storage capacity. [Display omitted] Graphite anode has great potential toward potassium ion storage for abundant reserves, yet it suffers from the large volume expansion and slow diffusion rate. Herein, the low-cost biochemical fulvic acid-derived amorphous carbon (BFAC) is employed to modify the natural microcrystalline graphite (BFAC@MG) by a simple mixed carbonization strategy. The BFAC smooths the split layer and folds on the surface of microcrystalline graphite and builds the heteroatom-doped composite structure, which effectively alleviates the volume expansion caused by K+ electrochemical de-intercalation processes, together with improving electrochemical reaction kinetics. As expected, the optimized BFAC@MG-0.5 exhibits superior potassium-ion storage performance, which delivers a high reversible capacity (623.8 mAh g−1), excellent rate performance (147.8 mAh g−1 at 2 A g−1), and remarkable cycling stability (100.8 mAh g−1 after 1200 cycles). As a practical device application, the potassium-ion capacitors are assembled using the BFAC@MG-0.5 anode and commercial activated carbon cathode, which exhibits a maximum energy density of 126.48 Wh kg−1 and superior cycle stability. Significantly, this work demonstrates the potential of microcrystalline graphite as the host anode material for potassium-ion storage.