Progress in Natural Science: Materials International 30 (2020) 20–27

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Progress in Natural Science: Materials International

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Original research

Layered carbon-based pseudocapacitive materials for lithium/sodium-ion T

capacitor with high energy-power densities and long cycle life
Mingxiang Hua, Hongwei Zhanga, Ruitao Lva,b,∗
a
State Key Laboratory of New Ceramics and Fine Processing, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China
b
Key Laboratory of Advanced Materials (MOE), School of Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Keywords: Hybrid ion capacitors that combined high-power density of supercapacitor and high-energy density of battery are
Sodium/lithium-ion capacitors drawing attention to insufficient power densities of currently-used lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Two kinds of layered
High energy-power density carbon-based pseudocapacitive materials were used as both anode and cathode for lithium/sodium ion capacitors
Pseudocapacitive electrodes (LICs/NICs) with balanced energy/power properties. As-assembled NIC and LIC could deliver the energy densities of
Layered materials
125.7 Wh kg−1 and 119.6 Wh kg−1 at the power density of 7941.2 W kg−1 and 8823.5 W kg−1, respectively. The
electrochemical properties of NICs were better than that of LICs when the current density was below 4 A g−1, al-
though the working voltage of LIC is higher than that of NICs, and the size of Na+ is larger than that of Li+. Using an
instantaneous potential technique, it is found that the increase of the capacity for anode material in low potential
region will effectively enhance the electrochemical performance for the full device.

1. Introduction doped graphene-based materials [21,22], transition metal chalcogen-

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have become one of the fastest growing
energy storage devices, but there are also some challenges ahead. The in-
creasing consumptions of lithium resources urge the explorations of other
types electrochemical devices with rich abundance to replace lithium. LIBs
with high energy densities are still challenge to deliver adequate power
densities [1–5]. In the shortage of lithium source, room-temperature so-
dium-ion batteries (NIBs) have drawn considerable attentions due to the
similar physical and chemical properties between sodium and lithium [6,7].
Moreover, the abundance and low cost of sodium resources trigger the
exploration on new energy storage devices based on sodium ions [8–10]. In
LIBs, a novel hybrid device with battery-typed anode and supercapacitor-
based cathode has been proposed to combine energy features of batteries
and power features of supercapacitors [6,11,12]. These devices are termed
as lithium-ion capacitors (LICs) and sodium-ion capacitors (NICs), when the
dominant carriers are Li+ and Na+, respectively [13,14].
To enhance the energy densities of LICs or NICs, materials with
plateaus in low potential regions are usually selected as anodes.
However, these materials are usually kinetically sluggish for ion in-
sertion reactions, leading to poor power properties of integrated devices
[15,16]. To alleviate the influence of kinetically sluggish process on
LICs or NICs, pseudocapacitive materials are one of the best candidates
[17–19]. In particular, two-dimensional (2D) materials [20], including
ides (MoS2, WS2) [23–25], MXenes (Ti2C) [17] and metal oxides
(Nb2O5 [26], V2O5 [27], TiO2 [28] and LiCoO2 [29]), have demon-
strated excellent pseudocapacitive behaviors. However, it is very
challenging to achieve both high energy densities and high-power
densities in LICs/NICs, which are dominantly caused by the sluggish
kinetics and low capacities of anode materials in low potential regions.
In this work, a sodium-ion capacitor (NICs) configuration with both
pseudocapacitive materials as anode and cathode was proposed. This
configuration was expected to solve the problems of inadequate power-
energy caused by the kinetically sluggish process of conventional ca-
pacitors. Specifically, a composite (SnS/SnS2@SG) with SnS/SnS2 an-
chored on the sulfur-doped reduced graphene oxide (SG) was be syn-
thesized using a hydrothermal method. Nitrogen doped graphite oxide
(NEGO) was synthesized via a one-step heat treatment of graphite oxide
in ammonia atmosphere. These two pseudocapacitive materials in the
both anode and cathode can remarkably improve the power density
without sacrificing the energy density of integrated NIC devices.
2. Experimental
2.1. Synthesis of NEGO and SnS/SnS2@SG samples
Nitrogen doped expanded graphite oxide (NEGO) samples were

∗
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: lvruitao@tsinghua.edu.cn (R. Lv).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnsc.2019.12.003
Received 18 July 2019; Received in revised form 16 December 2019; Accepted 26 December 2019
Available online 11 February 2020
1002-0071/ © 2020 Chinese Materials Research Society. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY-NC-ND/4.0/).
M. Hu, et al.
synthesized via a one-step NH3 reduced reaction, as shown in our pre-
vious work [21]. Graphite oxide (GO) powders were put into a 10 ml
alumina crucible, and heated up to 600 °C with a rate of 5 °C min−1 in
Ar atmosphere. Then the temperature was maintained at 600 °C in 100
sccm NH3 flow for 60 min. Sn-based sulfates with well-defined layered-
structure were synthesized by an ion-assisted synthesis method pro-
posed in our previous work [30]. In a typical process, 4 mmol SnCl2 and
6 mmol KCl were dissolved in 80 ml deionized water with 200 mg
graphene oxide followed by adding 8 mmol thioacetamide (TAA) under
vigorous stirring for 2 h. Then, the suspension was transferred into a
100 ml Teflon-lined autoclave and maintained at 180 °C for 12 h. The
as-obtained precipitates were cooled down to room temperature, and
collected after water and ethanol rinsing for several times. Finally, the
products were dried at 80 °C in a vacuum oven and denoted as SnS/
SnS2@SG.
2.2. Materials characterization
As-obtained samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction
method (XRD) with Cu-Kα radiation, field-emission scanning electron
microscope (FE-SEM, Hitachi S4800) and transmission electron micro-
scopy (TEM, JEOL 2010) equipped with an energy dispersive spectro-
meter (EDS). The specific surface area (SSA) and pore features were
determined by nitrogen adsorption/desorption at 77 K (Belsorp-Max/
Mini). To elucidate the exact content of carbon in SnS/SnS2@SG,
thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis
(DTA) were carried out on a thermal analysis system (TA INSTRUME-
NTS, Q5000IR). Surface chemistry was investigated with X-ray photo-
electron spectroscopy (XPS) with an ESC-Lab 250X followed by cali-
brating binding energy with C1s (284.8 eV).
2.3. Electrochemical test
In the cathode materials, slurries were prepared by mixing 90 wt%
NEGO with 10 wt% polyvinylidenediflouride (PVDF) in N-methylpyr-
rolidone (NMP) solution followed by magnetic stirring for over 12 h.
The electrodes with about 0.5 mg cm−2 loading mass were prepared by
coating the slurries onto the surface of aluminum foils, and dried at
120 °C overnight. In SnS/SnS2@SG, slurries were prepared with the
same method but with 90 wt% active materials and 10 wt% PVDF,
while the slurries were coated onto the surface of copper foil.
In a full cell, a basic rule is that the cathode and anode materials
must satisfy the law of charge conservation. The amount of charges that
stored in electrodes can be expressed in terms of specific capacities.
Considering the specific capacity for anode (0.01–0.30 V vs Li+/Li or
Scheme 1. Schematic illustration of a hybrid sodium-ion capacitor (NIC) based on pseudocapacitive materials in both anode and cathode. Cathode: nitrogen-doped
expanded graphite oxide (NEGO). Anode: SnS/SnS2 anchored on sulfur-doped graphene oxide (SnS/SnS2@SG) by ion-assisted growth. Electrolyte: 1 M NaPF6 in
EC:DMC (EC: ethylene carbonate; DMC: dimethyl carbonate; volume ratio is 1:1).
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Progress in Natural Science: Materials International 30 (2020) 20–27
Na+/Na) and cathode (1.8–4.5 V vs. Li+/Li; 1.5–4.2 V vs. Na+/Na), the
loading mass of anode electrode was set about 1.2 mg cm−2. All half-
cells were assembled using standard 2032 cells in an Ar-filled glove box
with Li or Na foils as the counter electrodes. Electrolytes for NIBs were
NaPF6 solution (1 M) in ethylene carbonate (EC) and dimethyl carbo-
nate (DMC), whereas the electrolytes for LIBs were LiPF6 solution (1 M)
in ethylene carbonate (EC) and diethyl carbonate (DEC). Galvanostatic
charge and discharge (GCD) tests of the anode half cells were conducted
on a LAND battery test system in the voltage windows ranging from
0.01 to 3.00 V versus Na+/Na or Li+/Li. Due to the higher standard
electrode potential of Na than that of Li (0.3 V), the cathode half cells
were tested on the EC-Lab Electrochemical workstation in the voltage
ranging from 1.5 to 4.2 V vs. Na+/Na or 1.8–4.5 V versus Li+/Li, re-
spectively.
Pre-lithiation and pre-sodiation techniques were essential to the
performance of NIC and LIC. In the anode, the half-cells of both NIB and
LIB were firstly discharged to 0.01 V and then charged to 3.00 V to form
a stable solid electrolyte interlayer (SEI) on the material. Then the cells
were discharged to 0.30 V to ensure its functionality as anodes in ca-
pacitors. In the LIC cathode, the half cells were firstly discharged to
1.8 V, and then charged to 4.5 V to form a cathode electrolyte interlayer
(CEI), further to avoid other side effects, finally, the cells were dis-
charged to 1.8 V vs Li+/Li. In NIC cathode, pre-sodiation was carried
out in the voltage range of 1.5–4.2 V and discharged at 1.5 V versus
Na+/Na. As-treated cells were disassembled in an Ar-filled glove box
and reassembled based on the mass ratio of the NEGO and SnS/SnS2@
SG. The electrolyte for NIC is NaPF6 solution (1 M) in EC and DMC
(1:1), whereas for LIC is LiPF6 solution (1 M) in EC and DEC (1:1). As-
fabricated NIC and LIC were tested in the voltage of 1.2–4.2 V and
1.5–4.5 V, respectively on the Arbin Electrochemical station. Cycling
voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS)
with the frequency from 200 kHz to 10 mHz were performed on an EC-
Lab VMP3 electrochemical work station. The performance, including
power density and energy density of full NIC or LIC, were calculated
based on the sum mass of anode and cathode.
3. Results and discussion
Scheme 1 depicts the configuration of the capacitor based on NEGO
cathode and SnS/SnS2@SG anode with sodium-based electrolyte. The
selection NEGO as the cathode is based on the nitrogen and oxygen-
groups introduced pseudocapacitances as well as the 2D structure
which could effectively promote the transfer of carriers [31–34]. Since
the 2D structure and combined transition-alloying reactions [35–37],
SnS/SnS2@SG can deliver extraordinary specific capacity and ultrahigh
M. Hu, et al. Progress in Natural Science: Materials International 30 (2020) 20–27

Fig. 1. (a) Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and (b) Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images of nitrogen doped expanded graphite oxide (NEGO). (c)
TEM image and (d) High-resolution TEM (HRTEM) image of SnS/SnS2@SG.

Fig. 2. Electrochemical properties of NEGO-based cathode materials. (a) Comparisons of half-cell lithium-ion capacitor (LIC) working at 1.5 V–4.2 V and 1.8
V–4.5 V at 1 A g−1. (b) Cyclic voltammetry (CV) curves of LIC at various scan rates. (c) Galvanostatic charge-discharge (GCD) curves of LIC at different current
densities. (d) Comparison of the GCD curves of NIC and LIC at 1 A g−1. (e) Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) curves of NIC and LIC at open circuit states.
(f) CV curves of NIC at various scan rates.

22
M. Hu, et al.
Fig. 3. Electrochemical performances of SnS/SnS2@SG-based anode materials. (a) First three cycle charge-discharge curves of SnS/SnS2@SG as the anode of sodium-
ion batteries (NIBs). (b) Rate performance of SnS/SnS2@SG as the anode inNIB at various current densities. (c) Comparison of CV curves of LIB and NIB at the
potential region in 0.01V–0.30 V with the scan rate of 1 mV/s. (d) Nyquist plots of SnS/SnS2@SG in LIB and NIB at the open circuit state.
rate ability even under the ultrahigh current of 48 A g−1 [30]. This
pseudocapacitive material as the anode may effectively enhance the
rate abilities without sacrificing any energy densities.
Fig. 1 shows the morphology of two samples (Which two sample,
please specify). Both samples are typical layered structures with the
ultrathin thicknesses of around 2 nm and 5 nm for NEGO and SnS/
SnS2@SG, respectively. SEM and STEM images of NEGO in Fig. 1 (a)
and (b) confirm its layered structures, which is consistent with the re-
sult shown in Fig. S1. In Fig. 1 (c), the tiny SnS/SnS2 plates uniformly
distribute on the graphite oxide layers. High-resolution TEM images in
Fig. 1 (d) show the (201) and (101) planes of SnS and SnS2 with the
lattice spacing distances of 0.34 nm and 0.26 nm, respectively. The
structures and contents of NEGO were characterized using Raman
spectrometer, Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and X-
ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques, which can be found
in our previous work [21]. The intensity ratio of D and G bands (ID/IG)
in Raman spectra are usually used to index the crystallization degree of
the carbon structure. The ID/IG value of NEGO is about 1.13 with a kind
of non-graphitized carbon characteristics, which usually exhibit su-
perior electrochemical properties due to the abundant active host sites
[21,38,39]. In Fig. S1, the contents of anode and cathode materials
were identified by XRD analysis. NEGO is a typical 2D layered materials
with a broad peak locating at 23°. In the SnS/SnS2@SG, the XRD results
clearly show the existence of both SnS and SnS2phase, corresponding
with the results shown in Fig. 1 (d). The electrochemical properties of
anode significantly enhanced because the SnS/SnS2 heterostructures
play an effective role in the resulted full device. Based on the XPS re-
sults in Fig. S1 (c) and thermal analysis results in Fig. S1 (e) and (f), the
specific contents of elements and compounds can be calculated, as
demonstrated in Table S1. FT-IR spectrum in Fig. S1(d) exhibit the
abundance of hydroxyl and carbon-containing functional groups on the
surface of sample. Nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms together
with DFT calculations of NEGO and SnS/SnS2@SG demonstrate that the
specific surface areas (SSA) of NEGO and SnS/SnS2@SG were
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Progress in Natural Science: Materials International 30 (2020) 20–27
295.8 m2/g and 30.6 m2/g, respectively, as listed in Table S2 [40–43].
Fig. 2 demonstrates the electrochemical properties of NEGO as
cathodes in LICs and NICs. During the charge/discharge process, Na+/
Li+ or PF6− could be absorbed on the surface or interface of NEGO at
medium or high working potentials (vs. Na+/Na or Li+/Li), respec-
tively. With the increase of working potentials, ions absorbed on
cathodes turn from Na+/Li+ to PF6. In Fig. 2 (a), NEGO samples were
separately tested at 1.5–4.2 V and 1.8–4.5 V in the NIC and LIC systems
as the cathode materials at 1 A g−1. Based on the formulas as below
[44]:
It
C=
(1)
Um
U = Umax Umin (2)
−1
where C (F g ) is the specific capacitance of target material; I is the
charge or discharge current; t is the discharge time, m is the mass of
active materials; Umax is the charge cut-off voltage, Uminis the discharge
cut-off voltage. The capacitances of NEGO in LIC can be calculated,
which is 203.7 F g−1 and 194.4 F g−1 at 1.5–4.2 V and 1.8–4.5 V,
respectively, The calculated capacitance of NEGO is also about
201.7 F g−1, as shown in Fig. 2 (b) at the scan rate of 5 mV/s based on
the formula below:
Umax
idU
C=
Umin
(Umax Umin ) m (3)
where C is the specific capacitance; i is the charge or discharge current;
v is the scan rate; Umax is the charge cut-off voltage, Umin is the dis-
charge cut-off voltage. In supercapacitors, the current densities are
usually proportional to scan rates, utilizing the data in Fig. 2 (b) and (f),
Meanwhile, the CV curves of half LICs and NICs at scan rates over
100 mV/s are displayed in Fig. S2 (a) and (b), and the shapes of curves
agree with the characteristics of capacitive materials. At the current
densities of 0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 10 and 20 A g−1, the LICs deliver
M. Hu, et al.
capacitances are 204.6, 201.8, 194.4, 192.6, 187.7, 172.7 and
166.3 F g−1, respectively. In Fig. 2 (d), the capacitance of NICs
(218.6 F g−1) is better than that of LICs (194.4 F g−1) at 1 A g−1.
Comparing the EIS curves of LICs and NICs (Fig. 2 (e)), the solution
resistance (Rsol) as well as the charge transfer resistance (Rct) of NIC are
much smaller than those of LIC.
The electrochemical properties of SnS/SnS2@SG as the anodes for
half sodium ion batteries have been reported in our previous work [30].
Here, the electrochemical properties of SnS/SnS2@SG working as an-
odes in lithium half cells were investigated, as exhibited in Fig. 3 (a)
and Fig. S3 (a). GCD (0–3 V) curves of LIB demonstrates the similar
shapes as working in NIB, suggesting the similar reactions during the
charge/discharge process. In the potential range from 0.01 V to 3 V in
LIB and NIB, both samples demonstrate superior rate performance even
under ultrahigh current densities, as shown in Figs. 3b and S4a. When
the current density increases over 8 A g−1, the specific capacities of
NIBs even outperform those of LIBs, which might be attributed to the
weaker solvation effect Na+ compared with Li+ [45,46].
The capacity of these two materials in corresponding voltage
window (anode: 0–0.3 V vs Na+/Na or Li+/Li; cathode: 1.5–4.2 V vs
Na+/Na, 1.8–4.5 V vs Li+/Li) were detected to determine the mass
ratio of cathode and anode materials. GCD curves of anodes in 0–0.3 V
exhibit the linear law with the capacities of 26 mAh g−1 and 36 mAh
g−1 in LIBs and NIBs, respectively, as shown in Fig. S3. Both NIBs and
LIBs could also deliver 30 mAh g−1 capacity after 200 cycles at 1 A g−1,
as shown in Fig. S4 (b), indicating their stable cycleability. In the
cathode in Fig. S5, the specific capacities of NEGO were investigated at
1.8–4.5 V in LIB while 1.5–4.2 V in NIB, respectively. In Fig. S5 (b) and
(d), the capacities of NEGO in LIBs and NIBs are 80 mAh g−1 and 60
mAh g−1, respectively. In the electrochemical properties of NICs and
LICs, the loading mass of both anode materials in LIBs and NIBs are
about 1.2 mg cm−2 with 0.5 mg cm−2 loading mass of cathode.
Therefore, the assembled full capacitors were tested at various current
Fig. 4. CV curves of as-assembled (a) LIC and (b) NIC devices at various scan rates in their related working voltages; (c) Comparison of GCD curves of LIC and NIC. (d)
Nyquist plots of LIC and NIC at the open circuit states.
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Progress in Natural Science: Materials International 30 (2020) 20–27
densities during 1.2–4.2 V for NICs while 1.5–4.5 V for LICs, as ex-
hibited in Fig. 4 and S9-10. Fig. 4 (a) and (b) shows the CV curves of full
LIC and NIC with the scan rates from 5 mV/s to 40 mV/s. Both curves
display rectangular shapes, even under 40 mV/s scan rate, indicating
the typical behaviors of electric double layer capacitor (EDLC). The
humps on these curves indicate the existence of pseudocapacitive re-
actions, corresponding to the results in Fig. 3. Using the data of GCD
curves in Fig. 4 (c), the energy density of NIC, 200.1 Wh kg−1 was
calculated based on the formula as below [22,44]:
E=Pt (4)
P= Vi (5)
V = (Vmax + Vmin )/2 (6)
−1 −1
where E (Wh kg ) is the energy density; P (W kg ) is the power
density, t is the discharge time; i is the current density; Vmax is the
charge cut-off voltage, Vminis the discharge cut-off voltage. In LICs
working at 0.5 A g−1, the energy density is about 160.7 Wh kg−1,
which is smaller than that of NICs, indicating the high energy density of
NICs systems. The charge transfer resistances of NICs is only 50 Ω,
much smaller than that of LICs (over 250 Ω), which are consistent with
the results in Fig. 4 (c). As-assembled devices could deliver 62 mAh g−1
and 51 mAh g−1 capacities respectively at 1 A g−1 after 2500 cycles, as
shown in Fig. 5 (a). Considering the working voltages, Fig. 5 (b) reveals
the energy densities and power densities of both LICs and NICs. With
the increase of cycles, the energy density of LICs increase from 150 Wh
kg−1 to 202 Wh kg−1via electrochemical activation process. However,
the energy density decreased from 148 Wh kg−1 to 109 Wh kg−1 after
2500 cycles, which may be caused by the larger radius of Na+. En-
hanced electrochemical properties of LICs during the cycling process
may be caused by the more abundant active sites from electrochemical
stripping. The power density of LICs is higher than that of NICs under
the same situation due to the shorter discharge time compared with
NICs. The power density of LICs is stable at 800 W kg−1 after 2500
M. Hu, et al.
Fig. 5. Comparison of cycling performance of LIC and NIC at 1 A g−1. (a) Capacity stability. (b) Energy density and power density. (c) Ragone plots of as-assembled
NIC and LIC comparing to state-of-the-art data of hybrid Li+ or Na+ energy storage devices.
cycles at 1 A g−1, whereas the NICs could stably deliver 690 W kg−1
power density at the same condition. These stable electrochemical
properties of as-assembled NIC and LIC further prove the superior ki-
netics of pseudocapacitive materials.
The energy-power data of NICs and LICs under different densities
were summarized in Table S3 based on the data in Figs. S6 and S7. With
the increase of the current densities, the energy densities drop while the
power densities increase. Fig. 5 (c) shows the Ragone plot of NEGO//
SnS/SnS2@SG for NIC and LICs. Firstly, the properties of these kinds of
devices were compared with the previous reports on the state-of-the-art
of hybrid lithium/sodium-ion capacitors from the power density to the
energy density [44,47–52]. NEGO//SnS/SnS2@SG for LICs and NICs
demonstrate the excellent rate ability and the high energy densities
without sacrificing their power densities. When the current density is
below 30 A g−1, the properties of NICs are even better than those of
LICs.
To elucidate the origins of the excellent properties of NEGO//SnS/
SnS2@SG LICs and NICs, the kinetic analysis was carried out using a
three-electrodes split flat cell (Fig. 6 (a)) with the metal Li or Na rings as
counter electrodes. During a typical charge/discharge process, the
specific potential of anode or cathode (vs. Na+/Na or Li+/Li) was re-
corded during the charge/discharge process. In Fig. S8, when LICs
works under 1 A g−1, the initial potentials of cathode and anode are
4.49 V and 0.03 V versus Li+/Li, respectively. However, when the
device discharged to 1.50 V, the in-situ potentials of anode and cathode
are 0.44 V and 1.94 V, respectively. Based on the designing disciplines
of the experiment, when LIC was discharged to 1.50 V, the potentials of
cathode and anode should be 1.8 V and 0.3 V, respectively. In Fig. 6 (c),
with the increase of current density (2 A g−1), the potential can deviate
from the theoretical values, which can provide the additional energy.
Compared with the single electrodes in Fig. 2 (c), the better rate per-
formance of hybrid devices may come from these additional capacities.
In Fig. 6 (d), the potential deviation of NICs is much more serve than
that of LICs. Compared the anode cutoff potentials of NICs and LICs in
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Progress in Natural Science: Materials International 30 (2020) 20–27
Fig. 6 (c) and (d), the final potentials of anode in NICs is much higher
than that in LICs, which may cause the lower working voltage of NICs
than that of LICs. To achieve high energy-power properties for NICs,
much more attentions should be put to the design of anode materials in
the future, particularly on the pseudocapacitance in relatively low po-
tential regions.
4. Conclusions
A sodium-ion capacitor configuration with both carbon-based
pseudocapacitive electrodes has been proposed. The introduction of
pseudocapacitive materials into both electrodes can achieve high and a
balanced energy-power performance. The energy-power properties of
NICs are much better than that of LICs, despite their lower working
potentials. This finding is completely different from the conventional
idea that Na+ systems are inferior to the Li+ counterpart. Through an in
situ electrochemical analysis, the instantaneous potentials of cathodes
in NICs have been proved much higher than those in LICs, providing the
additional capacities for NICs. The configuration of two kinds of
pseudocapacitive electrodes can effectively improve the sluggish ki-
netics for ion insertion reactions in conventional hybrid capacitors, and
the as-assembled NIC offers one of the most competitive energy-power-
cycling stability combinations. Considering the abundance of sodium
resources, it could be expected that Na+ could be used as carriers in
energy storage devices to alleviate the shortage of Li resources for large-
scale high-throughput energy storage.
Declaration of competing interest
All authors declare that we have no financial and personal re-
lationships with other people or organizations that can inappropriately
influence our work, there is no professional or other personal interest of
any nature or kind in any product, service and/or company that could
be construed as influencing the position presented in, or the review of,
M. Hu, et al.
Fig. 6. (a) Photograph (Please add the scale bar, if possible) and (b) internal structure illustration of a three electrode split flat cell. Instantaneous potentials of anode
and cathode in the (c) LIC, and (d) NIC, at 2 A g−1 during the discharge process.
the manuscript entitled.
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge the financial support from the National Natural
Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51722207). We also ac-
knowledge the kindly help and insightful discussion with Le Yang, Qian
Lv and Changzhen Zhan.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.pnsc.2019.12.003.
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