Flower-like CoSe2/N, P-doped carbon microspheres accommodated on carbon nanosheets for high-performance potassium-ion batteries

Transition metal selenides (TMSs) have emerged as promising electrode materials for potassium-ion batteries (PIBs), whereas the large volume expansion and sluggish reaction kinetics have seriously hindered the cycle life and rate performance. Herein, a hierarchical composite of flower-like CoSe2/N, P-doped carbon microspheres accommodated on carbon nanosheets (CoSe2-NPC@CNS) was rationally fabricated as the anode for PIBs through a one-pot hydrothermal and subsequent selenization method. The intimate hybridization of CoSe2/N, P-doped carbon microspheres can effectively alleviate the volume expansion of CoSe2 during charge-discharge cycles, and the ultrathin carbon nanosheets derived from fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) slurry serves as a highly conductive and buffered substrate. By robustly merging them together, the interconnected hierarchical nanoarchitecture with exposed active sites achieves promoted potassium storage capacity, electrochemical reaction kinetics, and structural stability. As a result, the PIBs with CoSe2-NPC@CNS anode deliver high reversible capacities of 320.8 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles at 0.1 A g−1 and 213.9 mAh g−1 after 850 cycles at 1.0 A g−1, excellent rate capability (188.8 mAh g−1 at 5 A g−1), and enhanced pseudo-capacitive contribution rate of 88.7 %. This work offers valuable insight into the rational design and development of hierarchical anode materials with high performance for PIBs and beyond.