Coralloid carbon material based on biomass as a promising anode material for lithium and sodium storage

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), with their advantages of high specific capacity, long cycling life and eco-friendliness, have been widely used in many fields. Dwindling reserves, however, limit their further development. Sharing similar chemical properties with lithium, sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) can replace lithium-ion batteries as a new generation of energy storage device. Herein, the biowaste of magnolia petals was selected as the carbon precursor, and ZnCl2 as the template and activator, to prepare coralloid magnolia-based porous carbon materials (CMPCs) through a one-step carbonation route. The prepared CMPC-2 reveals a noticeable reversible specific capacity of 876 mA h g−1 after 750 cycles at 1 A g−1 for LIBs and of 161 mA h g−1 after 4000 cycles at 1 A g−1 for SIBs. The outstanding electrochemical performance is attributed to the unique morphological features of the material, including its coral-like three-dimensional cross-linked carbon nanostructure, which possesses a high specific surface area (903.1 m2 g−1) and an abundant pore structure (1.09 cm−3 g−1). The remarkable performance of the CMPCs indicates their promise for use in electrochemical energy storage.