Design and modification of carbon-based materials for high energy density non-aqueous aluminum ion batteries: A review

Owing to the unique advantage of low-cost, high-safety, and remarkable capacity, aluminum ion batteries (AIBs) feature a huge potential for large-scale energy storage. It is well accepted that cathode materials are very important for achieving high efficiency anion storage. Currently, carbon-based cathodes have attracted great attention, resulting from excellent ion storage ability, structural diversity, and cost-effectiveness. As a result, a large number of studies related to carbon cathode are reported, and in-depth demonstrate the charge storage mechanism. Despite these, a specific review on the design and modification of high-performance carbons is still lacking, but it is of great significance to realize the practical application of non-aqueous AIBs. Based on this, this work reviews the progress of carbon-based cathodes for AIBs starting from their structure and properties. Besides, some optimization strategies that can further improve capacity, rate, and cycling stability are discussed. This work is expected to provide a guidance for tailoring other advanced carbons for AIBs.