AUTHOR=Qian Xiaoyong , Zhang Fangzhou , Zhao Yuye , Liang Kai , Luo Wei , Yang Jianping 

TITLE=Polydopamine-Derived Carbon: What a Critical Role for Lithium Storage?

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Energy Research

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/energy-research/articles/10.3389/fenrg.2020.00140

DOI=10.3389/fenrg.2020.00140

ISSN=2296-598X

ABSTRACT=<p>Polydopamine-derived carbon materials have attracted tremendous attention owing to nitrogen heteroatom doping. However, it is challenging to estimate the effect of the morphology and porosity of the polydopamine-derived carbon for lithium storage. Here, we designed three polydopamine-derived carbon materials with different morphologies and porosity: carbon nanospheres (CNs), mesoporous carbon nanospheres (MCNs), and bowl-like mesoporous carbon nanoparticles (BMCNs) to evaluate the electrochemical performance. Such a bowl-like mesoporous structure combines multiple advantageous features, including mesoporous channels and shorter transmission distance, thus delivering a high specific capacity. In addition, our work provides new insight into the electrochemical performance of polydopamine-derived carbon and a useful reference for its future application in high-performance lithium ion battery (LIB) electrode materials.</p>