Programming asphalt-derived carbon microstructures via oxygen-induced precursor restructuring for alkali-ion battery...

Controlling the microstructural evolution of carbon materials via precursor restructuring has emerged as an effective strategy for enhancing electrochemical performance, yet its coupling with carbonization thermodynamics remains insufficiently understood. Herein, we demonstrate that precursor chemistry and thermal evolution can be synergistically regulated through HNO₃ pre-oxidation and controlled carbonization to program disorder, interlayer spacing, and pore architecture in de-oiled asphalt-derived amorphous carbons for both lithium-ion (LIB) and sodium-ion batteries (SIB). Under optimized conditions, precursor restructuring produces a highly disordered framework with expanded interlayer spacing and abundant microporosity, promoting rapid ion transport and favorable storage thermodynamics. As a result, the optimized carbon anode delivers a high reversible capacity of 544.9 mAh g^-1 at 0.1 A g^-1 with 90.1% capacity retention after 230 cycles in LIB. To extend applicability toward SIB, a dual-modification strategy combining deep HNO₃ oxidation and zinc gluconate-assisted pore formation is further employed to construct hierarchical porosity and enlarged carbon-layer spacing. The resulting carbon exhibits pronounced structural disorder, enabling Na⁺ intercalation-pore-filling mechanisms and delivering a reversible capacity of 241.6 mAh g^-1 with 73.1% capacity retention over 330 cycles. This work establishes a versatile programming strategy for transforming low-cost asphalt into high-performance carbon anodes for alkali-ion energy storage.