Lithium storage performance improvement of NaTi2(PO4)3 with nitrogen-doped carbon derived from polyaniline

Abstract NASICON-type NaTi 2 (PO 4 ) 3 has been acknowledged as a promising anode for energy storage due to high ion conductivity and low cost. Nevertheless, intrinsic low electrical conductivity of NaTi 2 (PO 4 ) 3 and low stability in aqueous electrolyte limit its further applications in aqueous lithium rechargeable battery. In this paper, polyaniline as carbon and nitrogen sources was employed to synthesize nitrogen-doped carbon coated NaTi 2 (PO 4 ) 3 (NTP-P) composite by sol-gel approach and following calcination treatment. The loose and carbon-coated structure endows NTP-P with good structure stability and improved electrochemical kinetics. Compared with glucose-derived carbon-coated NaTi 2 (PO 4 ) 3 composite, NTP-P exhibits superior rate and cycling performance. NTP-P with proper carbon content delivers the discharge capacity of 119.4 and 83.4 mAh g −1 at rate of 0.2 and 15 C, and its capacity retention can maintain 85.8% after 1000 cycles at 5 C. This research reveals that the integration of carbon coating and nitrogen doping by using polyaniline give an excellent method to enhance the electrochemical properties of electrode materials.