Sulfur-doped carbonized bacterial cellulose as a flexible binder-free 3D anode for improved sodium ion storage

Carbon-based materials have received wide attention as electrodes for energy storage and conversion owing to their rapid mass transfer processes, outstanding electronic conductivities, and high stabilities. Here, sulfur-doped carbonized bacterial cellulose (S-CBC) was prepared as a high-performance anode for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) by simultaneous carbonization and sulfidation using the bacterial cellulose membrane produced by microbial fermentation as the precursor. Doping sublimed sulfur powder into CBC results in a greater degree of disorder and defects, buffering the volume expansion during the cycle. Significantly, the three-dimensional (3D) network structure of bacterial cellulose endows S-CBC with flexible self-support. As an anode for sodium ion batteries, S-CBC exhibits a high specific capacity of 302.9 mA h g^-1 at 100 mA g^-1 after 50 cycles and 177.6 mA h g^-1 at 2 A g^-1 after 1000 cycles. Compared with the CBC electrode, the S-CBC electrode also exhibits enhanced rate performance in sodium storage. Moreover, theoretical simulations reveal that Na⁺ has good adsorption stability and a faster diffusion rate in S-CBC. The doping of the S element introduces defects that enlarge the interlayer distance, and the synergies of adsorption and bonding are the main reasons for its high performance. These results indicate the potential application prospects of S-CBC as a flexible binder-free electrode for high-performance SIBs.