Facile strategy to produce N-doped carbon aerogels derived from seaweed for lithium-ion battery anode

Abstract Biomass materials as sustainable carbon precursor have attracted great attention in electrochemical energy conversion and storage. Herein we demonstrated a facile strategy to produce N-doped activated carbon aerogels (N-ACAs) with porous structure derived from sodium alginate for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Vitally, the porous carbon aerogels with high specific surface area of 2136 m 2  g -1 and the macro-mesoporous structure are observed in the formed N-ACAs. When using N-ACAs as an anode material, formatting the three-dimensional pathway through the N-doping carbon aerogels structure not only provides more connection opportunities for electrolyte and the electrode, but also promotes the charge-transfer reaction. Meanwhile, the obtained N-ACAs exhibits a reversible capacity about 550 mAh g −1  at 1 C (1 C = 372 mA g -1 ) after 300 cycles, considering as appealing anode material with the high specific capacity, good rate capability, and excellent cycling performance for LIBs.