Chitin Derived Carbons as Surface Chemical Adsorption Host for High Performance Aqueous Zinc–Iodine Batteries

Abstract Aqueous rechargeable zinc–iodine batteries (ZIBs) with high security and low cost have been considered as a promising candidate for energy storage systems. However, complex preparation technology of host materials and polyiodide dissolution leading to notorious shuttle effects, severely limit their large‐scale development. Herein, a nitrogen‐doped carbon derived from chitosan (named as NCT) was synthesized through a process of direct carbonization without activation. Benefiting from the chemical adsorption of polyiodide by heteroatom, the as‐prepared NCT/I 2 samples present a high specific capacity (155.9 mAh g −1 at 0.1 A g −1 ) and remarkable cycling stability (1800 cycles at 0.2 A g −1 with a capacity retention of 82%). This study provides a strategy for facile preparing N‐doped carbon material for high performance aqueous ZIBs.