In Situ formed Organic Sodium Salt/rGO Nanocomposite as Anode Material for Sodium Ion Batteries

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are expected to be the next-generation large-scale energy storage technology. Organic anode materials are potential for efficient SIBs because they are not sensitive to the size of metal ions. Yet they still suffer from shortcomings such as low electrical conductivity, and solubility in electrolyte. Formation of nanocomposite with carbon materials is an efficient way to address these issues. Herein, we design a thiophene-based carboxylate compound STT, and the STT@rGO nanocomposite is also in situ formed as anode material for SIBs. The reduced graphene oxide (rGO) could improve conductivity and decrease the solubility of the anode material. Compared to the pristine STT electrode, STT@rGO delivers a reversible specific capacity of 178 mAh g^-1, with a capacity retention rate of 86 % after 1000 cycles. Moreover, full batteries are successfully assembled using the nanocomposite anode and the commercial cathode Na₃V₂(PO₄)₃, manifesting the potential applications of the nanocomposite as organic electrode materials.