An Efficient Strategy toward Multichambered Carbon Nanoboxes with Multiple Spatial Confinement for Advanced Sodium–Sulfur Batteries

Abstract

Intricate hollow carbon structures possess vital function for anchoring polysulfides and enhancing the utilization of sulfur in room-temperature sodium–sulfur batteries. However, their synthesis is extremely challenging due to the complex structure. Here, a facile and efficient strategy is developed for the controllable synthesis of N/O-doped multichambered carbon nanoboxes (MCCBs) by selective etching and stepwise carbonization of ZIF-8 nanocubes. The MCCBs consist of porous carbon shells on the outside and connected carbon grids with a hollow structure on the inside, bringing about a MCCBs structure. As a sulfur host, the multichambered structure has better spatial encapsulation and integrated conductivity via the inner interconnected carbon grids, which combines the characteristics of short charge transfer path and superb physicochemical adsorption along with mechanical strength. As expected, the S@MCCBs cathode realizes decent cycle stability (0.045% capacity decay per cycle over 800 cycles at 5 A g–1) and enhanced rate performance (328 mA h g–1 at 10 A g–1). Furthermore, in situ transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation confirms the good structural stability of the S@MCCBs during the (de)sodiation process. Our work demonstrates an effective strategy for the rational design and accurate construction of intricate hollow materials for high-performance energy storage systems.