Crosslinked MnO₂ Nanowires Anchored in Sulfur Self-Doped Porous Carbon Skeleton with Superior Lithium Storage Performance

A facile process for the in-situ anchoring of crosslinked MnO₂ nanowires (MNs) in a preformed sulfur self-doped porous carbon material (SPC) derived from antibiotic bacterial residues (ABRs) was developed, only involving impregnation of potassium permanganate aqueous solution into SPC and consequently occurring in-situ redox reaction at room-temperature. In the obtained SPC@MNs composite, SPC serves as a conductive collector for accelerating lithium-ion transfer and a buffer carrier for reliving the volume-expansion of MNs, and the in-situ formed MNs homogeneously anchored in SPC can fully imply potential electrochemical properties and enable the whole skeleton more stable to guarantee good cycling stability. The proposed approach can not only solve the environmental problems associated with the accumulation of ABRs, but also achieve the maximization of dual energy storage and conversion of the SPC@MNs composite by elaborately utilizing the combinative merits of SPC and MNs. As a result, the SPC@MNs composite shows a reversible capacity of 953.4 mAh/g at 0.2 A/g after 80 cycles, and 745.9 mAh/g at 1 A/g after 450 cycles when used as anode for lithium-ion batteries.