Facile synthesis of boron-doped porous carbon as anode for lithium–ion batteries with excellent electrochemical performance

A novel boron-doped porous carbon (BC) was prepared through a facile one step pyrolysis process by using citric acid monohydrate, boron acid, and sodium chloride hybrid as precursor. Based on the analysis of X-ray photoemission spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy, three boron-doping species (BC3, BC2O, and BCO2) were doped in the carbon lattice. The BC2O and BCO2 can generate abundant extrinsic defects and active sites in the carbon matrix. The electron-deficient boron atom in BC3 improves the electric conductivity by adding more positive charged holes. As anode for lithium–ion batteries, the BC exhibits a stable reversible capacity above 600 mAh g−1 after 800 cycles under a current density of 1 A g−1 and preferable rate performance. Hence, this work provides a facile and effective strategy to fabricate a promising anode material for the high-performance lithium–ion batteries.