Revealing the Sodium Storage Mechanisms in Hard Carbon Pores

Hard carbon (HC) is the most promising anode for the commercialization of sodium-ion batteries (NIBs); however, a general mechanism for sodium storage in HC remains unclear, obstructing the development of highly efficient anodes for NIBs. To elucidate the mechanism of sodium storage in the pores, operando synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering, wide-angle X-ray scattering, X-ray absorption near edge structure, Raman spectroscopy, and galvanostatic measurements are combined. The multimodal approach provides mechanistic insights into the sodium pore-filling process for different HC microstructures including the pore sizes that are preferentially filled, the extent to which different pore sizes are filled, and how the defect concentration influences pore filling. It is observed that sodium in the larger pores has an increased pseudo-metallic sodium character consistent with larger sodium clusters. Furthermore, it is shown that the HCs prepared at higher pyrolysis temperatures have a larger capacity from sodium stored in the pores and that sodium intercalation between graphene layers occurs simultaneously with the pore filling in the plateau region. Opportunities are outlined to improve the performance of HC anodes by fully utilizing the pores for sodium storage, helping to pave the way for the commercialization of sodium ion batteries. A general storage mechanism is required to improve the performance of hard carbon (HC) anodes for sodium-ion batteries. The microstructure and defect concentration of HC determines which pores are preferentially filled. Large sodium pseudo-metallic clusters are observed in HC microstructures with large pore sizes. This work outlines strategies to design superior materials that fully utilize the pores.image