
In particular, inorganic anode materials such as Sn, metallic selenides, and hybrid materials have gained recognition as promising candidates for SIBs. 6 Among the carbonaceous materials, hard carbons are considered one of the most promising solutions for anode materials in SIBs due, among others, to their turbostratic structure, providing a high volume of closed porosity. 7 The exploitation of hard carbons as anode materials in SIBs has shown promising electrochemical energy storage performance, reaching specific capacity values of more than 300 mA h g −1 with a long plateau close to sodium's reduction potential. [pdf]
For SIB anode materials, hard carbon is the most mature and currently the only material likely to be commercialized, but it is still far away from large-scale industrialization. Herein, we carry out a comprehensive overview of the current state of the art in terms of three main aspects.
Hard carbon (HC) is recognized as a promising anode material with outstanding electrochemical performance for alkali metal-ion batteries including lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), as well as their analogs sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) and potassium-ion batteries (PIBs).
In recent years, coal-based hard carbon has received widespread attention as an anode material for sodium-ion batteries [19, 20]. To date, coal-based hard carbon is a promising anode material for sodium-ion batteries due to its high storage capacity, appropriately low operating potential and relatively stable source.
Hard carbon still suffers from unclear sodium storage mechanism, unsatisfactory performance, and low initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE). Herein, the current state-of-the-art advances in designing hard carbon anodes for high-performance SIBs is summarized.
Hard carbon (HC) is a promising anode candidate for Na-ion batteries (NIBs) because of its excellent Na-storage performance, abundance, and low cost. However, a precise understanding of its Na-storage behavior remains elusive.
This indicates the existence of three types of sodium ion storage sites in the hard carbon anode.

TEG is a vermicular or a worm-like structured non-toxic layered material which exhibits good flexibility, high chemical tolerance and excellent thermal shock resistance.52–54 TEG (a multi-porous (2–10 nm) material) was synthesized by treating graphite55,56 with various ions and compounds (examples: sulphate. . Liu et al.94 synthesized TEG by a one-step room-temperature method which showed an expansion volume up to 225 times. This experiment was carried out using a binary-component. . TEG had also been used widely as a phase-changing material,66,138 fire retardant,139,140etc. due to its excellent thermal stability. Compared to graphene and CNTs, TEG is less expensive and easy to prepare. However,. [pdf]
Thermally expanded graphite (TEG) is a vermicular-structured carbon material that can be prepared by heating expandable graphite up to 1150 °C using a muffle or tubular furnace.
First, graphite flakes, KMnO 4, acetic anhydride, and perchloric acid were mixed in a ratio of 1 : 0.5 : 1 : 0.4 (g g −1) for a few seconds and the mixture was kept in a microwave oven at 360 W for 50 s to achieve the expansion of graphite sheets.
The graphene sheets and TEG showed appreciable cycling stability with 90–95% of coulombic efficiency after the first cycle. The obtained reversible capacities of graphene sheets were 1130 and 636 mA h g −1 at a current density of 0.2 and 1 mA cm −2 which was higher than that of TEG and natural graphite.
Here we show that if graphite powders are contained and compressed within a permeable and expandable containment system, the graphite powders can be continuously intercalated, expanded, and exfoliated to produce graphene. Our data indicate both high yield (65%) and extraordinarily large lateral size (>30 μm) in the as-produced graphene.
There are two large-quantity methods of producing graphene from graphite: (i) The oft-used modified Hummers’ method involves extensive oxidation 15, 16, but the resulting graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets are defect-laden and electrically insulating.
Our data indicate both high yield (65%) and extraordinarily large lateral size (>30 μm) in the as-produced graphene. We also show that this process is scalable and that graphene yield efficiency depends solely on reactor geometry, graphite compression, and electrolyte transport.
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