Lignin-derived hierarchical mesoporous carbon and NiO hybrid nanospheres with exceptional Li-ion battery and pseudocapacitive properties

Most high capacity anode materials expand significantly during charging, such anodes must contain sufficient porosity or tough protective layer in the discharged state to enable the expansion, yet not excess porosity or low mobility of mass, which lowers the overall energy density. Here, we present a high capacity anode consisting of hierarchical mesoporous carbon nanospheres without any additives, which are derived from lignosulfonate and can be used as an excellent support for in-situ embedding NiO nanoparticles of 11 wt%. The as-prepared hybrid nanospheres have an integrated architecture with micropore-to-mesopore distribution and a surface area of 852 m2 g−1. As a result, the hybrid nanosphere anode exhibit a high discharging capacity of 863 mAh·g−1 at 0.1 A g−1 is retained after 100 cycles for a Li-ion battery. When evaluated as an electrode material for supercapacitors, the as-prepared hybrid nanospheres manifest exceptional performance with a high pseudocapacitance of 508 F g−1. Remarkably, about 92% of the initial capacitance can be retained after 2000 charge/discharge cycles. This approach generates a strategy to combine metal oxide nanoparticles with nanostructured carbon derived from biomass, which is expected for a broad set of possible electrode chemistries.