To address the challenges of capacity fading and poor electronic conductivity of hard carbons as anode in Li-ion batteries (LIBs), we report here the catalytic graphitization of resorcinol–formaldehyde xerogel (RFX)-derived hard carbon via a single-step synthesis by incorporating two transition metal catalysts (Co and Ni) with different loadings (5 and 10%) at a modest temperature of 1100 °C. Loading of both the catalysts affects the extent of graphitization and other physiochemical properties that have a direct influence on the anodic performance of as graphitized RFX-derived hard carbon. A 10% Ni catalyst in RFX-derived carbon induces the highest degree of graphitization of 81.4% along with partial amorphous carbon and nickel phases. This improved crystallinity was conducive enough to facilitate rapid electron and Li-ion transfer while the amorphous carbon phase contributed to higher specific capacity, resulting in overall best anodic performance as ever reported for RFX-derived carbon. A specific capacity of 578 mAh/g obtained after 210 cycles at 0.2 C with coulombic efficiency greater than 99% confirms the potential of graphitized RFX-derived carbon as an anode for high-performance LIBs.

为了解决容量衰减和硬碳作为锂离子电池（LIBS）阳极较差的电子传导性的挑战，我们在这里报告间苯二酚-甲醛干凝胶（RFX）的催化石墨化衍生的硬碳通过通过在1100°C的适度温度下掺入两种不同负载量（5％和10％）的过渡金属催化剂（Co和Ni）进行单步合成。两种催化剂的负载量都会影响石墨化的程度和其他物理化学性质，这些性质直接影响以石墨化的RFX衍生的硬碳的阳极性能。RFX衍生的碳中10％的Ni催化剂与部分无定形碳和镍相一起引起的石墨化程度最高，为81.4％。这种改善的结晶度足以促进快速的电子和锂离子转移，而无定形碳相则有助于提高比容量，从而实现了从RFX衍生的碳中获得的最佳整体阳极性能。在0下210次循环后获得的比容量为578 mAh / g。