A Phase-Separation Route to Synthesize Porous CNTs with Excellent Stability for Na+ Storage.

Porous carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are obtained by removing MoO2 nanoparticles from MoO2 @C core@shell nanofibers which are synthesized by phase-segregation via a single-needle electrospinning method. The specific surface area of porous CNTs is 502.9 m2 g-1 , and many oxygen-containing functional groups (COH, CO) are present. As anodes for sodium-ion batteries, the porous CNT electrode displays excellent rate performance and cycling stability (110 mA h g-1 after 1200 cycles at 5 A g-1 ). Those high properties can be attributed to the porous structure and surface modification to steadily store Na+ with high capacity. The work provides a facile and broadly applicable way to fabricate the porous CNTs and their composites for batteries, catalysts, and fuel cells.