Mangosteen peel-derived activated carbon for supercapacitors

This work reports the effects of activation temperatures on the porous development and electrochemical performance of activated carbons. Herein, activated carbons were prepared from the biowaste of mangosteen peel by using KOH activation at temperatures of 400, 600, and 800 ?°C. The results demonstrate that the specific surface area increases with increasing the activation temperatures in which the well-developed porous structure after KOH activation at 800 ?°C provides the highest specific surface area of 1039 ?m² ?g^?1. At 600 ?°C, the activated carbon delivers the highest specific capacitance value of 182 ?F ?g^?1 ?at a current density of 0.5 ?A ?g^?1 in 3 ?M KOH aqueous electrolyte. This is correlated well with its high micropore fractions (99%). Moreover, it was found that the activation temperature changes the major contribution of oxygen-containing functional group on surface of activated carbon, which is beneficial for the enhancement of the specific capacitance value of activated carbon at the temperature of 600 ?°C. This work suggests that the activation temperature is a key to optimizing the electrochemical performance of activated carbons. Overall, our activated carbons can be considered as a strong candidate for use as electrode materials in supercapacitors.     

Enhanced electrochemical stability of carbon-coated antimony nanoparticles with sodium alginate binder for sodium-ion batteries

The poor cycling stability of antimony during a repeated sodium ion insertion and desertion process is the key issue, which leads to an unsatisfactory application as an anode material in a sodium-ion battery. Addressed at this, we report a facile two-step method to coat antimony nanoparticles with an ultrathin carbon layer of few nanometers (denoted Sb@C NPs) for sodium-ion battery anode application. This carbon layer could buffer the volume change of antimony in the charge-discharge process and improve the battery cycle performance. Meanwhile, this carbon coating could also enhance the interfacial stability by firmly connecting the sodium alginate binders through its oxygen-rich surface. Benefitted from these advantages, an improved initial discharge capacity (788.5?mA?h?g^?1) and cycling stability capacity (553?mA?h?g^?1 after 50 times cycle) have been obtained in a battery using Sb@C NPs as anode materials at 50?mA?g^?1.     

Scalable synthesis and electrochemical performance of mesoporous graphene from calcium carbonate by magnesiothermic reaction

A novel scalable synthetic method of mesoporous graphene has been developed using the compressed mixture of Mg and excess CaCO₃ in a closed container. The generated solid oxide and unreacted CaCO₃ could act as mesopore-forming agents, and the closed container could prevent the carbon dioxide from CaCO₃ flow away. As a result, the graphenes with a large number of 2–30 ?nm mesopores and high utilization ratio of Mg achieved. The graphenes had high specific surface area and excellent electrochemical performance. In particular, the Mg utilization ratio was up to 53.3% in the preparation of graphene using 2:1 CaCO₃/Mg at 700 ?°C, which is superior to previous researches. The obtained mesoporous graphene exhibited high specific surface area of 743.7 ?m² ?g^-1, large specific capacitance of 140 ?F ?g^-1, and high capacitance retention rate of 64.3%.     

酚醛树脂基微孔炭的制备及双电层电容特性

以热固性酚醛树脂为原料,采用CO2物理活化法制备双电层电容器,用高比表面积活性炭.由氮气吸附法测定活性炭的比表面积和孔结构,采用循环伏安、交流阻抗和恒电流充放电考察其在3000/KOH水溶液中的电容特性.结果表明,随着活化时间的延长,所得活性炭收率下降,比表面积、总孔孔容和质量比电容则不断增加;具有高比表面积和宽孔径分布的试样APF957质量比电容值最高,电流密度由50 mA/g提高到1000 mA/g时,其放电比电容由211.6 F/g降低到196.5 F/g,容量保持率达到9300/,显示出良好的功率特性.     

Flexible micro-supercapacitors fabricated from MnO2 nanosheet/graphene composites with black phosphorus additive

Supercapacitors are widely used for powering flexible/wearable electronics owing to their excellent charge storage capabilities. In this study, MnO₂ nanosheets were grown on the surface of graphene using a simple water bath method to prepare graphene/MnO₂ composites for fabricating supercapacitors. In addition, two-dimensional black phosphorus was introduced as an additive into the electronic ink based on the as-prepared graphene/MnO₂ composites. The characterization and electrochemical analyses results showed that adding black phosphorus considerably improved the capacitive performance of the material, yielding a high specific capacitance of 241.5 ?F ?g^-1 at 0.1 ?A ?g^-1 and an impressive rate capability improvement from 52.5% to 80.3%. Then the micro-supercapacitor having an area-specific capacitance of 20.15 ?mF ?cm^-2 at a scanning rate of 2 ?mV ?s^-1 was utilized to demonstrate the practical applicability of this material. To further evaluate the practical applicability of this micro-supercapacitor, the micro-supercapacitor was integrated with a flexible thin-film pressure sensor on paper and cloth through screen printing.     

Direct electrodeposition of ionic liquid-based template-free SnCo alloy nanowires as an anode for Li-ion batteries

SnCo alloy nanowires were successfully electrodeposited from SnCl₂-CoCl₂-1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (EMIC) ionic liquid without a template. The nanowires were obtained from the molar ratio of 5:40:60 for SnCl₂:CoCl₂:EMIC at -0.55 V and showed a minimum diameter of about 50 nm and lengths of over 20 μm. The as-fabricated SnCo nanowires were about 70 nm in diameter and featured a Sn/Co weight ratio of 3.85:1, when used as an anode for a Li-ion battery, they presented respective specific capacities of 687 and 678 mAh·g-1 after the first charge and discharge cycle and maintained capacities of about 654 mAh·g-1 after 60 cycles and 539 mAh·g-1 after 80 cycles at a current density of 300 mA·g-1. Both the nanowire structure and presence of elemental Co helped buffer large volume changes in the Sn anode during charging and discharging to a certain extent, thereby improving the cycling performance of the Sn anode.     

Synthesis of the 3D porous carbon-manganese oxide (3D-C@MnO) nanocomposite and its supercapacitor behavior study

A 3D porous carbon-manganese oxide ([email protected]) nanocomposite is successfully synthesized via a thermal plasma deposition method. The chemical bonds and compositions, phase structures, surface morphologies, etc. of as-obtained [email protected] nanocomposite were characterized by the various equipment, such as X-ray diffractometer, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and electron microscopes. The electrochemical performances of the [email protected] nanocomposite electrode showed a specific capacitance of 780 F g^?1 at a current density of 2 A g^?1 and a capacitance retention rate of 99% after 5000 charge-discharge cycles at a high current density of 10 A g^?1. These excellent capacitive performances may be attributed to the encapsulation of MnO nanoparticles by porous carbon sheets in the [email protected] MnO nanocomposite structure. It is believed that the carbon-encapsulated MnO nanoparticles can be protected from a volume deformation during the charge adsorption/desorption cycle and can be electrically improved by the encapsulated carbon sheets, resulting in better overall capacitive performance. In addition, this study also demonstrates the practical applicability by assembling a supercapacitor using the as-obtained [email protected] nanocomposite to glow a light emitting diode.     

Rational construction of NiCo_2O_4@Fe_2O_3 core-shell nanowire arrays for high-performance supercapacitors

Fe_2O_3 electrode materials exhibit excellent electrochemical performance in electrochemical energy storage system. However, its poor electrical conductivity limits its future practical application. The binder-free Ni Co_2O_4@Fe_2O_3 composites was reasonably designed and fabricated on carbon fiber paper with NiCo_2 O_4 nanowires as conductive scaffold in the present investigation. The three-dimensional nanostructure of the porous Fe_2O_3 nanorods coated the Ni Co2 O4 nanowire arrays showed the fascinating electrochemical performance, including high specific capacitance of 262 m F/cm2 at a current density of 1 m A/cm2, and remarkable cycle stability with～74.2% capacitance retention after 4000 cycles. The excellent pseudocapacitance performance of NiCo_2O_4@Fe_2O_3 composite materials is due to synergistic effect between NiCo_2O_4 and Fe_2O_3. The results of the present work show that NiCo_2O_4@Fe_2O_3 core-shell composite electrode is expected to exhibit excellent performance in the field of supercapacitors.     

Activated carbon derived from rice husk by NaOH activation and its application in supercapacitor

Four activated carbon(AC) samples prepared from rice husk under different activation temperatures have been characterized by N2adsorption–desorption isotherms, thermogravimetric analysis(TGA–DTA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy(SEM). The specific surface area of AC sample reached 2681 m2 g 1under activation temperature of 800 1C. The AC samples were then tested as electrode material; the specific capacitance of the as-prepared activated carbon electrode was found to be 172.3 F g 1using cyclic voltammetry at a scan rate of 5 mV s 1and 198.4 F g 1at current density 1000 mA g 1in the charge/discharge mode.& 2014 Chinese Materials Research Society. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.     

Electrochemical characterization of MnO2 as the cathode material for a high voltage hybrid capacitor

Manganese dioxide (MnO₂) was prepared using the ultrasonic method. Its electrochemical performance was evaluated as the cathode material for a high voltage hybrid capacitor. And the specific capacitance of the MnO₂ electrode reached 240 F·g-1. The new hybrid capacitor was constructed, combining A1/Al₂O₃ as the anode and MnO₂ as the cathode with electrolyte for the aluminum electrolytic capacitor to solve the problem of low working voltage of a supercapacitor unit. The results showed that the hybrid capacitor had a high energy density and the ability of quick charging and discharging according to the electrochemical performance test. The capacitance was 84.4 μF, and the volume and mass energy densities were greatly improved compared to those of the traditional aluminum electrolytic capacitor of 47 μF. The analysis of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) showed that the hybrid capacitor had good impedance characteristics.     

Bimetallic-organic coordination polymers to prepare N-doped hierarchical porous carbon for high performance supercapacitors

Single metal-organic coordination polymers have limited functions as precursors for porous carbon electrode materials.The construction of bimetallic organic coordination polymers can effectively utilize the advantages of each single metal-organic coordination polymer to improve the performance of the derived carbon materials.Herein,High performance nitrogen-doped porous carbon(BC_(Fe–Ni))have been produced by directly carbonizing bimetallic organic coordination polymers formed by 4,4'-bipyridine(BPD)reaction with Fe Cl_3and NiCl_2.The BC_(Fe–Ni) exhibits high nitrogen content(12.66 at%),large specific surface area(1049.51 m~2g~(-1))and hierarchical porous structure,which contributes to an excellent gravimetric specific gravity of 320.5 Fg~(-1)and 108%of specific capacitance retention after 10000 cycles.The BC_(Fe–Ni)assembled symmetrical supercapacitor shows an energy density of 18.3 Wh kg~(-1)at a power density of 350 W kg~(-1).It is expected that the as-prepared N-doped porous carbon derived from bimetallic-organic coordination polymer is a promising electrode material for high performance energy storage devices.     

聚合物共混法制备超级电容器用多孔炭材料

以酚醛树脂为前驱体,以聚乙二醇为致孔剂,采用聚合物共混法制备超级电容器用中孔炭电极材料. 采用N2吸附法测试了炭材料的比表面积和孔结构参数. 采用恒流充放电、循环伏安、交流阻抗等评价了其在1mol·L-1Et4NBF4/PC有机电解液中的电化学双电层电容性能. 结果表明,酚醛树脂和聚乙二醇等比例共混炭化制备的多孔炭的比表面积为618m2·g-1,中孔率为59.7%,比电容为32F·g-1,大电流性能和循环性能良好.     

Ultrafastly activated needle coke as electrode material for supercapacitors

The uniform porous structure makes activated porous carbons (APCs) superior electrode material. Traditionally, APCs are produced by a combination of time-consuming high-temperature heat treatment and activation, with a production time of up to several hours. The produced APCs have relatively low specific surface area (SSA) and porosity. Therefore, the electrochemical performance is poor, which limits its application in high-power energy storage devices. Here, APCs materials are directly synthesized by a high temperature shock (HTS) strategy using needle coke as a precursor. The structure of as-prepared APC is characterized by XRD, SEM and Raman, and electrochemical tests confirmed its good electrochemical performance. In the two-electrode system, the supercapacitor with HTS-APC as the electrode material provides a high energy density of 35 ?Wh kg^?1 and a high power density of 875 ?W ?kg^?1 in EMIMBF₄ ionic liquid. This work is instructive for the rapid synthesis of electrode materials, and also provides guidance for the large-scale application of porous carbon materials.     

氢氧化钾活化法制备淀粉活性炭电极材料

以KOH为活化剂、氧化交联淀粉为原料制备了超级电容器用电极材料.最佳工艺条件是:活化温度850℃,活化保温1.5 h,碱炭质量比为2∶1.在该条件下制备的淀粉活性炭具有较高的比表面积(1 493.9 m2/g)和高比容量(218 F/g).通过氮吸附表征其孔结构.以其作为电极材料组装在模拟超级电容器中进行充放电性能和循环伏安法测试,在300 mg/g KOH水系电解质溶液、较高电流密度下,最佳制备工艺条件下所制备的活性炭表现出较好的电容特性.     

Morphological evolution and kinetic enhancement of Li2FexMn1-xSiO4/C cathodes for Li-ion battery

Li_2MnSiO_4-based cathode materials possess reasonable work potentials and high theoretical capacities,while the practical energy/power densities are constrained by their inferior kinetics of Li~+ diffusion.In this work,the Pmn2_1-structure Li_2Fe_xMn_(1-x)SiO_4/C materials were synthesized via a solvothermal method and evaluated as Liion cathode materials,with notable morphological evolutions and tunable crystallographic habits observed after solvothermal process.The Li_2Fe_(0.33)Mn_(0.67)SiO_4/C material delivers an initial reversible capacity of 250.2mAh g~(-1)at 0.1 C(～1.51 Li~+insertion/extraction,1 C=166 mA g~(-1)),excellent high-rate capability(52.2 mAh g~(-1)at 5 C),and good long-term cyclability(64.6%after 196 cycles at 2 C).The enhanced electrochemical properties are attributed to the boosted ion/electron transports induced by preferred morphological and structural characteristics of Li_2Fe_(0.33)Mn_(0.67)SiO_4/C.     

Systematically controlled synthesis of rGO/nano-MnO_x materials for supercapacitors

The effects of hydrothermal production conditions on crystal forms,morphology and electrochemical performance of in situ reduced graphene oxide/manganese oxides(r GO/Mn O_x)hybrid electrode materials were studied.The XRD/SEM results show that the ratio of precursors,reaction temperature and type of solvent significantly affected the crystal form obtained and nano-structure of MnO_x.Varied precursor ratios of KMnO_4:GO(5:1,7:1,9:1 and 11:1)yielded the hybrids of rGO/Mn_7O_(13)5H_2O,rGO/β-MnO_2,rGO/Mn_(98)O_2,and rGO/K_(0.27)MnO_2(H_2O)_(0.54),respectively,having corresponding nano structures of nano-sheets composed petal-like shape,petal-like shape based nano-wire clusters,petal-like shape with backwardly arched top and bigger mesoporous petal-like nano structures.Hybrid prepared precursor with the ratio of 5:1 exhibited the highest specific capacitance of 320 F/g at 0.2 A/g and the smallest diffusion impedance.However,hybrid prepared precursor with the ratio of 7:1 presented the lowest electron transfer impedance.Varying hydrothermal treatment temperatures(140,160 and 200℃)yielded hybrids:rGO/MnO(OH),rGO/Mn_(0.91)O_(1,82)(H_2O)_(0.18),and rGO/Mn_7O_(13)5H_2O,respectively.The nano structures of the hybrids were nano-sheets having petal-like mesoporous structure,but having larger dimensions as temperature increase.The hybrid prepared at 160℃ showed the highest specific capacitance of 214 F/g at a current density of 0.2 A/g and the lowest solution resistance of1.61Ω,whiles,the hybrid prepared at 140℃ inferred the best cyclic reversibility.     

对流微通道反应器制备Ni2P材料及Co掺杂改性

使用NiCl₂·6H₂O、KOH、NaH₂PO₂·2H₂O和CoCl₂·6H₂O等为反应物,在对流微通道反应器（CFMCR）中制备了Ni （OH）₂前驱体,然后在PH₃气氛中将其还原,最后经酸洗得到目标产物Ni₂P。探讨了CFMCR反应工艺条件（包括体积流量、pH和陈化时间）和磷化反应温度等对制备的Ni （OH）₂前驱体及最终的Ni₂P材料性能的影响,确定了制备Ni₂P材料的最佳工艺条件,并利用CFMCR对制备的Ni₂P材料进行了Co掺杂改性,提高了材料的充放电循环性能以及比电容。结果表明,利用CFMCR制备的Ni₂P材料最高比电容可达到1 200 F/g,500次恒流充放电循环后比电容保有率约为65%;掺杂Co元素制备的Ni-Co-P复合材料最高比电容为1 475 F/g,500次恒流充放电循环后比电容保有率约为84%。     

Development of N-doped carbons from zeolite-templating route as potential electrode materials for symmetric supercapacitors

N-doped carbons were fabricated from zeolite-templated carbon via modification with melamine and mild KOH activation. The N-doping treatment and KOH activation slightly lowered the surface areas of pristine zeolite-templated carbon; nonetheless, N-doped carbons with a lower surface area exhibited much higher capacitance and cycling stability as fabricated into symmetric supercapacitor. Significantly, N-doped carbon obtained at 700℃ showed a capacitance of 45.7 F/g at 0.1 A/g and 42.0 F/g at 10 A/g for the fabricated supercapacitor with 6 M KOH electrolyte, with 92% retention of initial capacitance as current density increased up to 100-fold. This performance was attributed to the dual contribution of electric double-layer capacitance and pseudo-capacitance. The assembled supercapacitor also exhibited excellent cycling stability, with 91% capacitance retention at 10 A/g after 10000 cycles.     

表面含氧官能团对活性炭电化学性能的影响

采用浓硝酸对椰壳活性炭和各壳活性炭进行液相氧化改性后，制成了以KOH为电解液的超级电容器的炭电极，研究表面含氧官能团在碱性电解液中对电容器电极的电化学性能的影响．运用低温N2吸附、XPS和FTIR表征活性炭孔结构和表面性质．研究结果表明，氧化后活性炭的比表面积和孔容降低，表面含氧量增大．且经硝酸氧化后炭表面的含氧官能团含量发生了变化，即在内酯基的含量减少的同时，羟基、羰基和菝基的含量增加，其中羟基含量的增幅最大．在50mA／g电流密度下经过100次充放电循环，氧化后的椰壳活性炭和杏壳活性炭质量比电容分别达到193 F/g和150F／g，均比氧化前提高了30％以上．由XPS的分析结果判断，羟基对电极比电容提高的贡献最大．同时，在大电流充放电时，氧化后炭电极的比电容的衰减率明显低于氧化前．     

High temperature electrochemical discharge performance of LaFeO3 coated with C/Ni as anode material for NiMH batteries

Perovskite LaFeO₃ is considered as a promising new anode material for nickel/metal hydride batteries due to its low cost, environmental friendliness and high temperature resistance. However, the poor conductivity of LaFeO₃ material restricts the discharge ability, which is problematic for its future widespread application. To solve the above issue, in this study, we prepared C/Ni-coated LaFeO₃ composite in view of the excellent electrical conductivity of carbon and nickel metal. Results show that the C/Ni-coated LaFeO₃ composite delivers remarkably increased discharge capacity of ～345 mAh g^?1 at 60 ?°C in contrast to ～267 mAh g^?1 for pure LaFeO₃. Furthermore, the carbon and nickel not only increase the electrical conductivity of the LaFeO₃ but also reduces the agglomeration of the LaFeO₃, therefore, the C/Ni-coated LaFeO₃ composite serves superior long cycle-life, which maintains 60.9% after 100 cycles (52.9% for the LaFeO₃ sample). In overall, the electrochemical behavior of the C/Ni-coated LaFeO₃ composite confirms its high potential as nickel/metal hydride batteries for energy storage applications.