Compared
to chemosynthetic CuFeS2, natural chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) can be regarded as a promising anode material for exploring
ultrafast and stable Li-ion batteries benefiting from it being firsthand,
eco-friendly, and resource-rich. Considering the nonuniform size distribution
in it and the fact that homogeneous grain distributions can effectively
restrain the aggregation of active materials, the engineering of size
is deemed an effective strategy to achieve excellent Li-storage performances.
Herein, varisized natural CuFeS2 are obtained by facial mineral processing technology and
outstanding Li-storage performances are exhibited. Along with the
decreasing of size, the contribution of pseudocapacitive as well as
the ion transfer rates are significantly boosted. As expected, even
at 1 A g–1, a remarkable capacity of 1009.7 mA h
g–1 is displayed by the sample with the smallest
size and most uniform distributions even after 500 cycles. Furthermore,
supported by the detailed analysis of in situ X-ray diffraction and
kinetic features, a hybrid of multiple lithium-metal sulfur systems
and the major origin of the enhanced capacity upon long cycles are
confirmed. Remarkably, this work is expected to increase the far-ranging applications
of natural chalcopyrite as a firsthand anode material for lithium-ion
batteries (LIBs) and inform the readers about the effects of particle
size on Li-storage performances.