Highly Crystalline Poly(heptazine imide)-Based Carbonaceous Anodes for Ultralong Lifespan and Low-Temperature Sodium-Ion Batteries

Carbon nitrides with layered structures and scalable syntheses have emerged as potential anode choices for the commercialization of sodium-ion batteries. However, the low crystallinity of materials synthesized through traditional thermal condensation leads to insufficient conductivity and poor cycling stability, which significantly hamper their practical applications. Herein, a facile salt-covering method was proposed for the synthesis of highly ordered crystalline C3N4-based all-carbon nanocomposites. The sealing environment created by this strategy leads to the formation of poly(heptazine imide) (PHI), the crystalline phase of C3N4, with extended π-conjugation and a fully condensed nanosheet structure. Meanwhile, theoretical calculations reveal the high crystallinity of C3N4 significantly reduces the energy barrier for electron transition and enables the generation of efficient charge transfer channels at the heterogeneous interface between carbon and C3N4. Accordingly, such nanocomposites present ultrastable cycling performances over 5000 cycles, with a high reversible capacity of 245.1 mAh g-1 at 2 A g-1 delivered. More importantly, they also exhibit an outstanding low-temperature capacity of 196.6 mAh g-1 at -20 °C. This work offers opportunities for the energy storage use of C3N4 and provides some clues for developing long-life and high-capacity anodes operated under extreme conditions.