Cooperative composites anchored with single atom Pb and carbon confined PbO nanoparticles for superior lead-carbon batteries

The mitigation of sulphation and parasitic hydrogen evolution is considered as prominent research emphasis for the development of lead–carbon batteries (LCBs) in large-scale energy storage applications. Here, cooperative Pb-C composites consisting of single atom Pb and carbon-encapsulated PbO nanoparticles were prepared by freeze-drying technique and pyrolytic reduction to address above obstacles. The innovative use of Pb2+ to cross-link sodium alginate enabled a uniform distribution of Pb in the composites, generating Pb-C-PbO three-phase heterostructure. Experimental analysis and theoretical calculations revealed the synergistic interactions between single-atom Pb and PbO nanoparticles in suppressing parasitic hydrogen evolution and promoting the adsorption of Pb atoms. The presence of monatomic Pb and PbO enhanced the affinity of the composites for the negative active materials and facilitated the transformation of the active materials from bulk into spherical shapes to enhance the specific surface area, thereby counteracting sulphation. Through the coordinated integration of various functionalities offered by Pb@C-x, the cycle life of the battery at HRPSoC reaches 7025 cycles, which is two times for LCB with pure carbon materials. Additionally, the discharge capacity increased from 3.52 to 3.79 Ah. This study provides substantial insights into the construction of Pb-C composites for LCBs to inhibit negative sulphation and hydrogen evolution.