Synergistic Engineering Assembly of Twisted Mesoporous Carbon Nanorods as Potential Lithium-Ion Battery Anodes

Precise engineering of geometrical structure in mesoporous carbon materials is crucial for enhancing their electrochemical storage performance. Herein, we report a tannic acid-mediated molecular-level interface assembly strategy to construct highly nitrogen-doped twisted mesoporous carbon nanorods (MCR) for the first time. Controlled experiments reveal that tannic acid and toluene act as synergistic molecular regulators, guiding the assembly of Pluronic P123 (PEO₂₀PPO₇₀PEO₂₀) into stable cylindrical micelles via hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions, which subsequently evolve into a twisted rod-like morphology. The twisted architecture effectively buffers volume expansion during repeated lithiation/delithiation. Meanwhile, the large specific surface area and high nitrogen doping level (13.9 at. %) provide abundant electroactive sites for lithium-ion storage. Furthermore, the well-aligned one-dimensional mesoporous channels facilitate rapid ion diffusion and efficient electron transport. As a result, the designed MCR anode delivers a high reversible capacity of 701.9 mA h g^-1 at 100 mA g^-1 after 150 cycles and remains at 563.9 mA h g^-1 at 1000 mA g^-1 after 1500 cycles, outperforming the control mesoporous carbon spheres (only 436.6 mA h g^-1 at 100 mA g^-1, 341.7 mA h g^-1 at 1000 mA g^-1). This work offers valuable insights for the rational design of high-performance porous carbon electrode materials with tailored geometric architectures.