Received: 30 October 2023 | Revised: 20 December 2023 | Accepted: 10 January 2024

DOI: 10.1002/cey2.534

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Pore structure and oxygen content design of amorphous

carbon toward a durable anode for potassium/sodium‐ion
batteries

Xiaodong Shi1,2,3 | Chuancong Zhou1 | Yuxin Gao4 | Jinlin Yang1 | Yu Xie1 |

Suyang Feng1 | Jie Zhang1 | Jing Li1 | Xinlong Tian1 | Hui Zhang1

1
State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource
Utilization in South China Sea, School of Abstract
Marine Science and Engineering, School Both sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs) and potassium‐ion batteries (PIBs) are
of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering,
Hainan University, Haikou, China
considered as promising candidates in grid‐level energy storage devices.
2
School of Materials Science and Unfortunately, the larger ionic radii of K+ and Na+ induce poor diffusion
Engineering, Central South University, kinetics and cycling stability of carbon anode materials. Pore structure
Changsha, China
regulation is an ideal strategy to promote the diffusion kinetics and cyclic
3
Key Laboratory of Advanced Energy
stability of carbon materials by facilitating electrolyte infiltration, increasing
Materials Chemistry, Nankai University,
Tianjin, China the transport channels, and alleviating the volume change. However,
4
Hainan Center for Drug and Medical traditional pore‐forming agent‐assisted methods considerably increase the
Device Evaluation and Service, Haikou, difficulty of synthesis and limit practical applications of porous carbon
China
materials. Herein, porous carbon materials (Ca‐PC/Na‐PC/K‐PC) with
Correspondence different pore structures have been prepared with gluconates as the
Jinlin Yang, Xinlong Tian, and Hui Zhang,
precursors, and the amorphous structure, abundant micropores, and oxygen‐
State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource
Utilization in South China Sea, School of doping active sites endow the Ca‐PC anode with excellent potassium and
Marine Science and Engineering, School of sodium storage performance. For PIBs, the capacitive contribution ratio of Ca‐
Chemistry and Chemical Engineering,
PC is 82% at 5.0 mV s−1 due to the introduction of micropores and high
Hainan University, 570228 Haikou, China.
Email: yangjl@hainanu.edu.cn, oxygen‐doping content, while a high reversible capacity of 121.4 mAh g−1 can
tianxl@hainanu.edu.cn and be reached at 5 A g−1 after 2000 cycles. For SIBs, stable sodium storage
hui.zhang@hainanu.edu.cn
capacity of 101.4 mAh g−1 can be achieved at 2 A g−1 after 8000 cycles with a
Funding information very low decay rate of 0.65% for per cycle. This work may provide an avenue
National Natural Science Foundation of for the application of porous carbon materials in the energy storage field.
China, Grant/Award Numbers: 52362010,
52304326, 22305055, 52274297; Start‐up
KEYWORDS
Research Foundation of Hainan
oxygen doping, pore structure, porous carbon, potassium‐ion batteries, sodium‐ion batteries
University, Grant/Award Numbers:
KYQD(ZR)‐23069, 20008, 23067, 23073;
Innovation Platform for Academicians of
Hainan Province, Grant/Award Number:
YSPTZX202315

Xiaodong Shi and Chuancong Zhou are co‐first authors and contributed equally.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided
the original work is properly cited.
© 2024 The Authors. Carbon Energy published by Wenzhou University and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Carbon Energy. 2024;e534. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/cey2 | 1 of 11

https://doi.org/10.1002/cey2.534

2 of 11 | SHI
1 | INTRODUCTION
Sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs) and potassium‐ion batteries
(PIBs) have excellent potential as alternative energy
storage devices due to the abundant reserves and similar
working principle to lithium‐ion batteries.1–6 However,
Na+ (1.02 Å) and K+ (1.38 Å) have larger ionic radii than
Li+ (0.76 Å), resulting in large volume change and high
diffusion barrier during the cycling process.7–9 Therefore,
it is important to fabricate suitable carbon materials
for PIBs and SIBs, but this still remains a huge
challenge.10–12
In order to tackle the disadvantages of carbon anodes
in PIBs and SIBs, feasible strategies can be classified as
follows. (I) Adjustment of the interlayer spacing to
reduce the diffusion energy barrier and alleviate the
volume effect during cycling.13 The relationships
between the interlayer spacing and the diffusion energy
barrier have been revealed, and it has been found that an
enlarged interlayer distance up to 5.2 Å can promote K+
diffusion kinetics. (II) Introduction of heteroatom
doping, structural defects, or active sites to promote the
capacitive adsorption behavior of carbon materials.14,15
(III) Regulation of the pore structure to facilitate the
penetration of electrolytes, increase the interior transport
channels, and accommodate the volume change during
cycling.16–19 Thus, the pore structure is a crucial factor
affecting the reaction interface between the electrode and
the electrolyte, such as the decomposition of the
electrolyte and the formation of a solid electrolyte
interface (SEI) film on the surface of carbon anodes.20–23
Nevertheless, for the reported synthesis methods for
porous carbon, additional pore‐forming agents (e.g.,
KOH) are always required, which increases the complex-
ity and cost of the preparation process, limiting the
possibility of practical applications.24–28 In addition, the
key links between the electrochemical performances and
the pore structure of carbon materials have rarely been
reported.29,30
Herein, three kinds of porous carbon materials (Ca‐
PC, Na‐PC, and K‐PC) with different pore structures
were obtained from gluconate precursors and served as
anodes for PIBs and SIBs. Among them, the Ca‐PC
material has abundant micropores, larger interlayer
spacing, and higher surface area and oxygen‐doping
content. The enlarged interlayer can reduce the diffusion
energy barrier of K+ ions, and the microporous structure
can alleviate the volume change and provide transport
channels for K+ ions. Meanwhile, based on density
functional theory (DFT) calculations, oxygen doping can
induce active sites and decrease the diffusion energy
barrier, thereby promoting the adsorption and diffusion
ability of K+ ions in the Ca‐PC anode. Due to these
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ET AL.
advantages, the capacitive contribution ratio of the Ca‐
PC anode at 5.0 mV s−1 is 82%, which is higher than
those of Na‐PC (68.9%) and K‐PC (71.2%). Its potassium
storage capacities at 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000, and
4000 mA g−1 are 305.2, 295.1, 242.2, 207.2, 176, and
144.2 mAh g−1, respectively, indicating excellent rate
performance. Additionally, its sodium storage capacity
can stabilize at 104.1 mAh g−1 at 2000 mA g−1 after 8000
cycles, suggesting superior cycling stability.
2 | R ES ULT S AN D DI S C US S I ON
2.1 | Morphological and structural
characterizations
As presented in Figure 1A, the synthesized porous carbon
materials are derived from gluconate precursors, and the
effect of different alkali metal ions on the crystallinity and
graphitization degree of carbon materials is investigated.
The morphological differences of Ca‐PC, Na‐PC, and K‐PC
samples are depicted in Figures 1B–E and S1, revealing a
porous and amorphous structure as well as rich oxygen
doping of Ca‐PC. Figure 1F presents the X‐ray diffraction
(XRD) patterns of carbon samples, in which the diffraction
peak of the (002) crystal plane of Ca‐PC, Na‐PC, and K‐PC
samples appears at 20.8°, 21.8°, and 21.8°, respectively.
Thus, the corresponding interlayer spacing of Ca‐PC
(4.25 Å) is larger than those of Na‐PC and K‐PC samples
(4.0 Å).31 Generally, larger interlayer spacing can effec-
tively reduce the diffusion barrier and increase the
accommodation space of K+ ions, thereby promoting the
diffusion kinetics and potassium storage capacity.13,32,33
Figure 1G shows the Raman spectra of carbon samples, in
which the characteristic peaks located at around 1325 and
1588 cm−1 correspond to D and G bonds, respectively. The
corresponding ID/IG values of Ca‐PC, Na‐PC, and K‐PC
samples are 1.16, 1.12, and 1.13, respectively, further
confirming the intrinsic disordered structure of these
samples.30,34,35 Compared with graphitic carbon, disor-
dered carbon always undergoes less structural stress and
volume change during the cycling process, resulting in
better cycling stability.36 Figure 1H shows the Fourier
transform infrared (FT‐IR) spectra of carbon samples, and
the similar peaks located at 1135 and 1627 cm−1 corre-
spond to the C–C and C═C bonds, respectively, indicating
the presence of the main functional groups between
carbon atoms. In addition, the characteristic peak at
2366 cm−1 confirms the existence of O═C═O groups and
the doping of oxygen atoms. Figures 1I and S2 show the C
1s high‐resolution X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)
of Ca‐PC, Na‐PC, and K‐PC samples, which indicate the
superposition of three peaks located at 284.5, 286, and
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SHI ET AL. | 3 of 11

F I G U R E 1 (A) Schematic diagram of material preparation. (B) Scanning electron microscopy images, (C) TEM image, (D) HRTEM
images, and (E) high‐angle annular dark‐field scanning transmission electron microscopy and elemental mapping images of the Ca‐PC
sample. (F) XRD patterns, (G) Raman spectra, and (H) FT‐IR spectra of Ca‐PC, Na‐PC, and K‐PC samples. (I) High‐resolution C 1s XPS
spectra, (J) nitrogen isothermal adsorption and desorption curves, and (K) pore size distribution profile of the Ca‐PC sample.

288.5 eV, corresponding to the sp2, sp3, and O═C–O bonds,
respectively.25,37,38 Meanwhile, the oxygen doping con-
tents in Ca‐PC, Na‐PC, and K‐PC samples are 5.7, 3.1, and
2.1 at%, respectively, which can introduce more structural
defects and active sites to facilitate the capacitive
adsorption performance.39
As shown in Figures 1J and S3A,B, all the N2
adsorption–desorption curves belong to the type IV
isotherms, and yet, there are some differences among
the samples.21,30 The slight uptake at the low p/p0 region
(<0.1) implies the presence of micropores in the Ca‐PC
sample, while the typical hysteresis rings at the medium
p/p0 region (0.4–0.9) indicate the existence of mesopores
in the Ca‐PC and Na‐PC samples. Additionally, the steep
uplift at the high p/p0 region (0.9–1.0) indicates the
existence of macropores in the K‐PC sample. Therefore,
Ca‐PC has both micropores and mesopores, while the
dominant pore structures of the Na‐PC and K‐PC
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4 of 11 | SHI ET AL.

samples are mesopores and macropores, respectively.
The hierarchical pore structure can be further conformed
from the pore size distribution profiles (Figures 1K
and S3C,D). The Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (BET)
surface areas of Ca‐PC, Na‐PC, and K‐PC are 562.35,
349.73, and 222.36 m2 g−1, respectively. The large surface
area and porous structure of all the samples can be
ascribed to the decomposition of gluconates, acting as
molten salt templates and pore‐forming agents during
the calcination process, while the differences can be
attributed to the various decomposition reactions of
intermediates (CaCO3, Na2CO3, K2CO3), which are
shown in Figure S4A–C. For instance, CO2 released
during the decomposition of CaCO3 endows the Ca‐PC
sample with a larger surface area and a unique micropore
structure, while the solid melting reaction of K2CO3
induces macropores in the K‐PC sample. In addition, the
porous structure and the XRD pattern of Super P have
also been investigated. As shown in Figure S4D–F, the
BET surface area is only 62.8 m2 g−1 and the average pore
size is concentrated at 4 nm, implying a mesoporous
structure. The low surface area will weaken the interface
reaction between the electrode and the electrolyte,
leading to inferior electrochemical performance. Addi-
tionally, the diffraction peak for the (002) crystal plane of
Super P is located at 25°, and its interlayer spacing is
calculated to be 3.56 Å, which is much smaller than that
of the above three samples.40
2.2 | Potassium storage performance
In order to determine the link between the porous structure
and the electrochemical behavior of carbon materials, the
potassium storage performance of Ca‐PC, Na‐PC, and K‐PC
anodes has been studied. Figure 2A shows the cyclic
voltammetry (CV) curves of the Ca‐PC anode for the first
three cycles at 0.1 mV s−1. In the first cathodic scan, the

F I G U R E 2 Potassium storage performance: (A) CV curves of Ca‐PC at 0.1 mV s−1. (B) Galvanostatic charge/discharge profiles and (C)
cyclic performance of Ca‐PC at 50 mA g−1. (D) Cyclic performance of Ca‐PC, Na‐PC, K‐PC, and Super P at 100 mA g−1. (E) Rate performance
of Ca‐PC, Na‐PC, K‐PC, and Super P. (F) Long‐term cyclic performance of Ca‐PC, Na‐PC, and K‐PC at 2000 mA g−1. (G) Long‐term cyclic
performance of Ca‐PC at 5000 mA g−1.

SHI ET AL.
irreversible reduction peak at 1.15 V can be ascribed to the
formation of an SEI film, while two reversible reduction
peaks located at 0.925 and 0.01 V are generated due to the
stepwise intercalation of K+ ions.16 During the charging
process, the reversible oxidation peak at 1.32 V matches with
the deintercalation of K+ ions. These redox peaks correspond
well to the voltage platforms in galvanostatic charge/
discharge plots (Figure 2B) of the Ca‐PC anode. Additionally,
the first charge and discharge capacities of the Ca‐PC anode
at 50 mA g−1 are 347.5 and 1246.1 mAh g−1, respectively,
with an initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE) of 27.89%. Low
ICE arises due to the larger surface area and porous structure
of Ca‐PC, which induces more electrolyte consumption
during the formation of the SEI film.41–44 Figure S5 shows
the CV curves of the Na‐PC and K‐PC anodes for the first
two cycles at 0.1 mV s−1. Similarly, both the anodes show an
irreversible reduction peak at 1.26 and 1.13 V in the first
cathodic scan due to the formation of an SEI film. Figure 2C
shows the cycling performance of the Ca‐PC anode at
50 mA g−1. The reversible capacity stabilizes at 297.4 mAh
g−1 after 210 cycles, and the Coulombic efficiency is
maintained at 99.5%. Figure 2D compares the cycling
performance of Ca‐PC, Na‐PC, K‐PC, and Super P anodes
at 100 mA g−1. The capacity of the Ca‐PC anode is
maintained at 285 mAh g−1 after 125 cycles, while the
corresponding capacities of Na‐PC, K‐PC, and Super P
anodes under the same conditions are only 190.2, 186.3, and
84.1 mAh g−1, respectively. The results in Figure S6 also
confirm the higher potassium storage capacity of the Ca‐PC
F I G U R E 3 Sodium storage performance: (A) CV curves of Ca‐PC at 0.1 mV s−1 for SIBs. (B) Galvanostatic charge/discharge profiles of
Ca‐PC at 100 mA g−1 for SIBs. (C) Cyclic performance of Ca‐PC at 100, 500, and 1000 mA g−1 for SIBs. (D) Long‐term cyclic performance of
Ca‐PC at 2000 mA g−1 for SIBs.
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| 5 of 11
anode at 500 mA g−1. Figure 2E compares the rate capability
of Ca‐PC, Na‐PC, K‐PC, and Super P anodes. As expected,
the Ca‐PC anode shows the highest potassium storage
capacity of 295.1, 242.2, 207.2, 176, and 144.2 mAh g−1 at
200, 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 mA g−1, respectively. When
the current density reverts to 100 mA g−1, a specific capacity
of 305.2 mAh g−1 is obtained, indicating good rate capability.
The cycling performance of Ca‐PC, Na‐PC, and
K‐PC anodes is compared at 2 A g−1 (Figure 2F). It is
found that the reversible capacity of the Ca‐PC anode
is maintained at 145.9 mAh g−1 after 1000 cycles, much
higher than those of Na‐PC and K‐PC. Its potassium
storage capacity can reach 121.4 mAh g−1 at 5 A g−1
after 2000 cycles, indicating the superior structural
stability of Ca‐PC (Figure 2G). SIBs have similar
requirements for anode materials as PIBs, and the
sodium storage capacity of the Ca‐PC anode has also
been the highest one. As shown in Figure 3, the
reversible capacities for SIBs are 231.3, 208.6, and
165.2 mAh g−1 at 100, 500, and 1000 mA g−1 after
130, 800, and 1500 cycles, respectively. Even at
2000 mA g−1, its sodium storage capacity remains at
104.1 mAh g−1 after 8000 cycles, with a very low decay
rate of 0.65% for per cycle. The excellent electroche-
mical performance of the Ca‐PC anode mainly results
from its larger interlayer spacing, higher surface area,
and abundant micropores and oxygen‐doped
groups.45,46 The larger interlayer spacing can promote
the intercalation reaction, and the higher surface area,
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6 of 11 | SHI ET AL.

porous structure, and oxygen‐doped active sites can
facilitate the capacitive adsorption behavior.47,48
2.3 | Electrochemical reaction
mechanism analysis
To further identify the reasons for the enhanced perform-
ance, the reaction kinetics of the Ca‐PC anode has been
explored. Figure 4A presents the electrochemical impedance
spectroscopy (EIS) results of Ca‐PC, Na‐PC, and K‐PC
anodes after five cycles, in which the Ca‐PC anode has the
smallest charge‐transfer resistance (Rct), implying its fast
charge‐transfer ability.49 According to Equations (S1) and
(S2), the Warburg diffusion parameters (σ) of Ca‐PC, Na‐PC,
and K‐PC anodes are calculated to be 747, 910.9, and
989.5 Ω s−1/2, respectively (Figure 4B). It can be determined
from Equation (S3) that the smaller the σ value, the higher
the K+ diffusion coefficient. Therefore, the Ca‐PC anode also
has good diffusion kinetics. In addition, as shown in
Figure S7A, the Rct values show a downward trend, followed
by a relatively stable trend with an increase of the cycle
number. Based on Figure S7B, it is clear that the
corresponding σ value is also changing, indicating the
dynamic diffusion behavior of K+ ions. The K+ diffusion
coefficients calculated by the galvanostatic intermittent
titration technique (GITT) and Equation (S4) are shown in
Figures 4C and S8, respectively. The results demonstrate that

F I G U R E 4 (A) EIS curves and (B) the corresponding Warburg diffusion parameters of Ca‐PC, Na‐PC, and K‐PC anodes after five cycles;
(C) K+ diffusion coefficients of Ca‐PC, Na‐PC, and K‐PC anodes tested by GITT; (D) CV curves of the Ca‐PC anode at different scan rates
and the corresponding log(i) versus log(v) plot at specific peak currents; and (E) pseudocapacitive contribution area of the Ca‐PC anode in
the CV curve tested at 5.0 mV s−1.
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SHI ET AL. | 7 of 11

the Ca‐PC anode has a higher diffusion coefficient than Na‐
PC and K‐PC anodes in the second cycle, which is consistent
with the conclusions derived from EIS. Furthermore, the CV
curves at different scan rates and the corresponding b values
(that explain the contribution of Faradaic/(diffusion‐con-
trolled and non‐Faradaic/capacitive currents; see details in
Supporting Information) of Ca‐PC, Na‐PC, and K‐PC anodes
were investigated (Figures 4D and S9). Based on Equations
(S5) and (S6), the b values of Ca‐PC, Na‐PC, and K‐PC
anodes are 0.792, 0.673, and 0.752, respectively, and all of
them range from 0.5 to 1, indicating that their potassium
storage reactions are controlled by both the diffusion and
adsorption behavior of K+ ions. According to Equations (S7)
and (S8), the capacitive contribution ratio for the potassium
storage capacity can be further calculated. As shown in
Figures 4E, S10, and S11, the corresponding capacitive
contribution ratios of Ca‐PC, Na‐PC, and K‐PC anodes are
82%, 68.9%, and 71.2%, respectively, at a scan rate of
5.0 mV s−1, suggesting the enhanced capacitive adsorption
capability of the Ca‐PC anode, which is probably owing to
the high content of micropores and oxygen doping.50,51
Additionally, Super P anode shows a typical diffusion‐
controlled potassium storage reaction due to its inherently
low specific surface area and scarce active sites, leading to
poor potassium storage property (Figure S12).52
In addition to the reaction kinetic analysis, ex situ
characterizations can also enable analysis of the potas-
sium storage mechanism of the Ca‐PC anode during the
charge–discharge process. Figure 5A shows the XRD
patterns of the Ca‐PC anode at different potentials. With
increasing discharge depth, its (002) diffraction peak
gradually shifts to the high diffraction angle region, while
the corresponding interlayer spacing gradually decreases
due to the continuous intercalation of K+ ions and the
formation of K‐intercalated compounds (KICs). How-
ever, since the inserted K+ ions cannot be completely
deintercalated at the fully charged state, the (002)
diffraction peak still cannot return to the original
position. Figures 5B and S13 show the transmission
electron microscopy (TEM), high‐resolution transmission
electron microscopy (HRTEM), and elemental mapping
images of the Ca‐PC anode at fully discharged and fully
charged states. It can be seen that the K element is
distributed on the surface of Ca‐PC, confirming the
intercalation of K+ ions during the discharge process.
Meanwhile, the morphology, porous structure, and

F I G U R E 5 (A) Ex situ XRD pattern of the Ca‐PC anode at different states; TEM images of the Ca‐PC anode at (B) a fully discharged
state and (C) a fully charged state with a scale of 100 nm. HRTEM images of the Ca‐PC anode at (D) a fully discharged state and (E) a fully
charged state with a scale of 10 nm. (F) Ex situ Raman spectra and (G) ex situ C 1s and K 2p XPS spectra of the Ca‐PC anode at different
states.
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8 of 11 | SHI ET AL.

F I G U R E 6 Top and side views of (A) a pure carbon model, (B) an oxygen‐doped carbon model with one O atom, (C) an oxygen‐doped
carbon model with two O atoms, and (D) an oxygen‐doped carbon model with four O atoms, and their corresponding adsorption energy
with one adsorbed K atom in the structure. Diffusion path and diffusion energy barrier of K+ ions in (E) a pure carbon model and (F) an
oxygen‐doped carbon model with four O atoms.

amorphous degree of the Ca‐PC anode at fully discharged
and fully charged states still remain stable, indicating
reversible structure evolution, which enables superior
cycle performance. Figure 5C shows the Raman spectra
of the Ca‐PC anode at different potentials. With an
increase of the discharge depth, the corresponding ID/IG
ratio gradually decreases from 1.15 to 1.04 due to the
formation of KICs.13 After being fully charged to 3.0 V,
the value reverts to 1.09 due to the deintercalation of K+
ions, indicating its high structural reversibility.36
Figures 5D and S14 show the C 1s, K 2p, and O 1s XPS
spectra of the Ca‐PC anode at different states. At the fully
discharged state, the characteristic peak of the C 1s
spectra obviously shifted to the low binding‐energy
region, demonstrating the influence of the intercalated
K+ ions on the coordination environment of the C
element. At the fully charged state, the specific peak can
be recovered as before, further confirming the structural
stability of the Ca‐PC anode, which is crucial for the long
cycle life.
To further verify the experimental conjecture, the
chemical adsorption behaviors of K+ ions in carbon
materials with different oxygen doping contents have been
investigated by the theoretical calculation of DFT. As
summarized in Figure 6A–D, the increasing oxygen content
can facilitate an increase in the adsorption capability of K+
ions in oxygen‐doped sp2 carbon from 0.776 to −0.836 eV,
indicating that oxygen doping increases the adsorption sites
of K+ ions. Additionally, Figure 6E,F presents the diffusion
energy barriers of K+ ions in graphite carbon (0.486 eV) and
oxygen‐doped sp2 carbon (0.198 eV), respectively, demon-
strating that oxygen doping reduces the diffusion
energy barrier and accelerates the diffusion kinetic behavior
of K+ ions. These results can also be derived from the

SHI ET AL.
oxygen‐doped sp3 carbon model in Figure S15, and its
corresponding adsorption energy and diffusion energy
barrier of K+ ions are −1.283 and 0.018 eV, respectively,
showing the superior adsorption and diffusion behavior of
K+ ions. Therefore, the oxygen‐doping sites in Ca‐PC exert a
positive effect, resulting in high potassium storage capacity
and good rate performance.
3 | CONCLUSION
In conclusion, oxygen‐doping porous carbon materials (Ca‐
PC, Na‐PC, and K‐PC) with different porous structure have
been prepared using a facile self‐template strategy. Among
them, the Ca‐PC material has a unique microporous
structure, the largest interlayer spacing (4.25 Å), and the
highest surface area (562.35 m2 g−1) and oxygen‐doping
content (5.7 at%). As expected, the enlarged interlayer
reduces the diffusion barrier of K+ ions, the porous structure
provides fast transport paths for K+ ions, and the oxygen‐
doping sites promote the capacitive adsorption behavior. As
an anode for PIBs, the Ca‐PC anode can show a reversible
capacity of 297.4 mAh g−1 at 50 mA g−1 after 210 cycles,
145.9 mAh g−1 at 2000 mA g−1 after 1000 cycles, and a high
capacitive contribution ratio of 82% at 5.0 mV s−1. As an
anode for SIBs, the sodium storage capacity can be
maintained at 104.1 mAh g−1 at 2 A g−1 after 8000 cycles,
resulting in long‐term cyclic stability. This work may provide
an avenue for the facile preparation and structural design of
porous carbon. In addition, the self‐templated strategy
proposed in this work is universal, which can be extended
to other metal–organic salts, including but not limited to
citrates, alginates, gallates, and sorbates.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors are grateful for the financial support
provided by the National Natural Science Foundation
of China (52362010, 52304326, 22305055, and 52274297),
the Start‐up Research Foundation of Hainan University
(KYQD(ZR)‐23069, 20008, 23067, and 23073), and the
specific research fund of the Innovation Platform for
Academicians of Hainan Province (YSPTZX202315).
CONFLI CT OF I NTER EST STATEMENT
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interests.
ORCID
Xinlong Tian http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8388-5198
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efficient storage of Na and K mobile ions. Nano Energy.

2021;87:106184.
S U PP O R T I N G I N F O R M A T I O N
Additional supporting information can be found online
in the Supporting Information section at the end of this
article.
How to cite this article: Shi X, Zhou C, Gao Y,
et al. Pore structure and oxygen content design of
amorphous carbon toward a durable anode for
potassium/sodium‐ion batteries. Carbon Energy.
2024;e534. doi:10.1002/cey2.534