A facile grinding approach to embed red phosphorus in N,P-codoped hierarchical porous carbon for superior lithium storage

Despite red phosphorous (P)-based anodes hold great promise for advanced lithium-ion batteries due to their high theoretical capacity, their practical application is hindered by poor electronic conductivity and drastic volume changes during charge-discharge processes. In order to tackle these issues, herein, a facile grinding method was developed to embed sub-micro- and nano-sized red P particles in N,P-co-doped hierarchical porous carbon (NPHPC). Such a unique structure enables P@NPHPC long-cyclic stability (1120 mA h g−1 after 100 cycles at 100 mA g−1) and superior rate performance (248 mA h g−1 at 6400 mA g−1). It is believed that our method holds great potential in scalable synthesis of P@carbon composites for future practical applications.