Turning waste makeup cotton to a hollow structured carbon as anode for high‐performance lithium ions batteries.

A green and natural biomass carbon with hollow structure was first reported derived from waste makeup cotton, which was prepared by facile pyrolysis and carbonisation in the nitrogen‐filled vacuum tube furnace. Utilised as lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs) anode materials, the hollow structure exhibits superior cycling and rate performance. At the current density of 100 mA g−1, it demonstrates a reversible capacity of 340 mAh g−1 with the Coulombic efficiency of 58.8%, and the reversible capacity gradually increases to 450 mAh g−1 at 300 cycles, displaying long cycling stability. Even at a higher current density of 500 mA g−1, the capacity can be maintained around 245 mAh g−1 after 150 cycles. Moreover, the hollow carbon exhibits excellent rate capability (222 mAh g−1 at an ultrahigh rate of 2000 mA g−1). This enhanced property can be attributed to its special hollow structure, which could provide fast lithium ions and electrons transfer path to facilitate the electrochemical reaction. The authors believe this work could help to design new carbon materials with green and environmental protection as anode materials for LIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]