High-Performance Anode of Sodium Ion Battery from Polyacrylonitrile/Humic Acid Composite Electrospun Carbon Fibers

•Biomass humic acid is characterized before preparation for carbon fibers.•H-CFs are successfully applied as high-performance anode materials in sodium-ion batteries.•Good storage capacity and stable cycling behavior are obtained by virtue of composite network.

Humic acid is creatively selected as an anode material in sodium ion batteries. Bio-based carbon fibers (H-CF) are fabricated from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) − humic acid (HA) via simple eletrospinning followed by stabilization and carbonization. The heat-treatment temperature (HTT) is optimized based on analysis of material structures and electrochemical performances. Due to unique composite networks and oxygenic functionalities, the H-CF anode obtained at 1300 °C has a large reversible capacity of 261.3 mAh g−1 (current density: 0.02 A g−1, initial efficiency: 69.6%). The anode also presents good cycle stability (249.6 mAh g−1 reversible capacity at 0.1 A g−1 with capacity retention of 92.8% over 100 cycles) and good rate capability (208.6 mAh g−1 at 0.2 A g−1 and 81.7 mAh g−1 at 1 A g−1). It is proved that humic acid can serve as a robust precursor for high-performance anode of sodium ion batteries.

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