Pomegranate-like mesoporous double carbon-coated Fe2P nanoparticles as advanced anode materials for sodium-ion batteries.

Anode materials have limited the development of sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). In this paper, the novel pomegranate-like mesoporous double carbon-coated Fe₂P nanoparticles (Fe₂P@C@NC), in which Fe₂P is confined in the thin carbon shell derived from phytic acid and then wholly embedded into N-doped carbon network, can be applied as anode materials for SIBs. The elaborated structure presents several prominent merits, such as large specific surface area, pore-volume, excellent electronic conductivity network, and buffering volume expansion. All of these endow the structural integrity of Fe₂P@C@NC material with excellent performance during charge–discharge cycles and guarantee speedy electrode reaction kinetics. As SIBs anode, Fe₂P@C@NC material delivers an excellent reversible specific capacity of 408 mAh g⁻¹ with almost no decay after the 100th cycles. And it also features excellent rate capability and splendid durability (attenuation rate of 0.05% per cycle with 1000th cycles) at high current density. These results confirm that the unique self-confined growth strategy has a great practical value in synthesizing advanced materials for next-generation energy storage systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]