Synthesis of amorphous SeP2/C composite by plasma assisted ball milling for high-performance anode materials of lithium and sodium-ion batteries

To promote substantially the performances of red phosphorous (P) anode for lithium and sodium-ion batteries, a simple plasma assisted milling (P-milling) method was used to in-situ synthesize SeP₂/C composite. The results showed that the amorphous SeP₂/C composite exhibits the excellent lithium and sodium storage performances duo to the small nano-granules size and complete combination of selenium (Se) and phosphorous (P) to generate Se–P alloy phase. It was observed that inside the granules of SeP₂/C composite the nanometer size of the SeP₂ particles ensured the fast kinetics for Li⁺ and Na⁺ ​transfer, and the amorphous carbon wrapping the SeP₂ particles relieved volume expansion during lithium/sodium storage processes and enhances electric conductivity. Therefore, the SeP₂/C electrode retained reversible capacities of 700 ​mA ​h ​g⁻¹ at 2 ​A ​g⁻¹ after 500 cycles and 400 ​mA ​h ​g⁻¹ at 0.5 ​A ​g⁻¹ after 400 cycles as anode for LIBs and SIBs, respectively. The result proves that the amorphous SeP₂/C composite can be a new type of anode material with great potential for lithium and sodium-ion batteries.     

Flexible free-standing polyaniline/poly(vinyl alcohol) composite electrode with good capacitance performance and shape memory behavior

The increasing demand for portable and flexible energy storage devices drives the development of flexible electrodes and electrolytes. The aim of this work is to fabricate the flexible free-standing polyaniline/poly (vinyl alcohol) (PANI/PVA) composite electrode with good capacitance performance and shape memory behavior. The electrodes were fabricated by chemical oxidation polymerization of aniline in porous PVA (P-PVA) films. The morphology, electrochemical and mechanical properties of PANI/P-PVA electrodes were studied by scanning electron microscope, cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge-discharge, and tensile test etc. The results revealed that the flexible PANI/P-PVA-1 electrode had good specific capacitance of 173.86 ​mF ​cm⁻² at 1 ​mA ​cm⁻², with the capacitance retention of 70.16% after 4000 charge-discharge cycles. Besides, it had excellent heat-induced shape memory effect. The fixed shape could completely recover to its original shape within 10 ​s at 80 ​°C, which is above the glass transition temperature (75.89 ​°C) of PANI/P-PVA-1. The comparatively tensile strength (2.86 ​MPa) and high elongation at break (315.72%) indicated its outstanding flexibility. Up to 200 times folding had no effect on the electrochemical properties. The free-standing polymer electrodes with excellent comprehensive performance provide potential applications in flexible energy-storage devices, electronic encapsulation and high stretchable electric devices etc.     

FeCo-based mesoporous carbon shells modified N-doped porous carbon spheres for oxygen reduction reaction

FeCo-based non-noble metal electrocatalysts (NNMEs) of FeCo/MCS-NPCS was fabricated by immobilization of hemin on mesoporous carbon shells modified N-doped porous carbon spheres (MCS-NPCS). The obtained FeCo/MCS-NPCS exhibits a half-wave potential (E_1/2) of 0.851 ​V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode (vs. RHE) and a limited-diffusion current density (J_L) of 5.45 ​mA ​cm⁻². In addition, FeCo/MCS-NPCS shows comparable oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) performances to 20 ​wt% Pt/C in terms of E_1/2 and J_L and better electrochemical properties, including the methanol tolerance and durability in alkaline solution. Such outstanding electrochemical activities of FeCo/MCS-NPCS can be ascribed to Fe and/or Co-based nitrides and carbides as well as N-doped carbon matrixes modified with mesoporous carbon shells. This research introduces a promising path to design and synthesize highly efficient FeCo–N–C electrocatalysts towards ORR.     

Li3N film modified separator with homogenization effect of lithium ions for stable lithium metal battery

Lithium metal anode with high theoretical capacity is considered to be one of the most potential anode materials of the next generation. However, the growth of lithium dendrite seriously affects the application of lithium metal anode and the development of lithium metal batteries (LMBs). Herein, an ultrathin Li₃N film modified separator to homogenize the lithium ions and protect the lithium metal anode was reported. Due to the intrinsic properties of Li₃N, the functional separator possessed good thermal stability, mechanical properties and electrolyte wettability, and the homogenization of the lithium ion was realized without increasing the interface impedance. With this functional separator, the Li/Li symmetrical cell could achieve a long cycle with low overpotential for 1000 ​h at a current density of 1 ​mA ​cm⁻². Furthermore, when the full battery was assembled with LiFePO₄ and the discharge capacity could be maintained at 151 mAh g⁻¹ after 400 cycles at 1 ​C. In addition, the full battery also showed good rate performance, and provided a high discharge capacity of 114 mAh g⁻¹ at 5 ​C.     

Unveiling the role of Zn dopants in NiFe phosphide nanosheet for oxygen evolution reaction

Transition metal phosphides have been recognized as promising electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction(OER) due to their low cost and high activity. However, the insufficient exposed active region limited the OER performance. Recently, the introduction of sacrificial dopants has been considered an effective strategy to enlarge the surface area. Herein, the Zn dopants are introduced in NiFe phosphide(NiFeZnP) nanosheet, which work as the sacrificial dopants to generate more exposed active N...     

Binder- and conductive additive-free Ga2O3 nanowires as a self-healing anode for lithium storage

High-capacity anode materials have stimulated much attention to developing high-performance lithium-ion batteries. However, high-capacity anode materials commonly suffer from the pulverization matter that greatly hinders their practical applications, especially in terms of the high proportion of active materials. In this work, a Ga₂O₃nanowire electrode is synthesized by thermal evaporation and immediately used as an anode without the aid of binders and conductive additives....     

Cobalt coordination modified double-schiff-base with low solubility as a long-cycle life anode for sodium-ion batteries

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have been recently considered as an intriguing candidate for next-generation battery systems with their advantages in large-scale energy storage applications. However, the design of electrode materials of SIBs still suffers from severe volume expansion and low capacity caused by the larger ion radius, high re-dox potential and heavy atom weight of Na. Organic electrode materials with structural flexibility have attracted great attention recently for their potential in alleviating volume expansion. However, most organic electrode materials suffer from dissolution in electrolytes and consequent capacity fading during the long-term cycling process. In this work, a method coordinating with Co²⁺ was applied to solve the shuttle effect of H₄salphdc (N, N’-phenylene-bis-(salicylideneimine) dicarboxylic acid). By virtue of the Co²⁺ coordination, the Co(H₂salphdc) electrode delivered a desirable discharge capacity of 123 mAh g^?1 after 1500 cycles at the current density of 200 ?mA ?g^?1, while the H₄salphdc electrode exhibited severe capacity fading. Such excellent electrochemical performance can be credited to the Co²⁺ coordination repressing the electrode dissolution and improving the structure stability.     

Co-Mn 金属有机骨架衍生的双金属硫化物及其在锂离子电池负极材料中的应用

介绍了一种通过简单的室温搅拌合成具有多孔结构的 Co-Mn 金属有机框架(metal-organic-framework, MOF)材料的方法, 并对制备的双金属 MOF 进行气相硫化, 得到多孔 CoS介绍了一种通过简单的室温搅拌合成具有多孔结构的Co-Mn金属有机框架(metalorganic-framework,MOF)材料的方法,并对制备的双金属MOF进行气相硫化,得到多孔CoS_2/MnS双金属复合材料.与相同方法制备的单金属MnS与CoS2材料对比发现,CoS_2/MnS双金属复合材料表现出了类似花瓣状的多孔片状结构以及更小的粒径,在作为锂离子电池电极材料使用时表现出了最好的储锂性能.这主要归因于类花瓣状的多孔结构:一方面为锂离子提供了更短的传输路径以及更多的接触位点;另一方面也缓解了材料锂化/去锂化过程的体积变化.此外,两种金属硫化物的有机结合也抑制了材料在循环过程中由于体积变化而导致的容量快速衰减.最后,MOF有机配体衍生的碳骨架也为增强材料的导电性起到了积极的作用.     

Multiple metallic dopants in nickel nanoparticles for electrocatalytic oxygen evolution

Developing efficient oxygen evolution reaction(OER) electrocatalysts is of great importance for sustainable energy conversion and storage. Ni-based catalysts have shown great potential as OER electrocatalysts, but their performance still needs to be improved. Herein, we report the multiple metal doped nickel nanoparticles synthesized via a simple oil phase strategy as efficient OER catalysts. The FeMnMoV–Ni exhibits superior OER performance with an overpotential of 220 mV at 10 mA cm^-2     

Magnetic field induced synthesis of (Ni,Zn)Fe2O4 spinel nanorod for enhanced alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction

Recently, the introduction of external fields(light, thermal, magnetism, etc.) during electrocatalysis reactions gradually becomes a new strategy to modulate the catalytic activities. In this work, an external magnetic field was innovatively employed for the synthesis progress of(Ni, Zn)Fe₂O₄spinel oxide(M-(Ni, Zn)Fe₂O₄). Results indicated the magnetic field(≤250 m T) would affect the morphology of catalyst due to the existing Fe ions, inducing the M-(...     

Large specific surface area S-doped Fe–N–C electrocatalysts derived from Metal–Organic frameworks for oxygen reduction reaction

It is highly desired but challenging to develop platinum group metal-free electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), which can promote the commercialization of fuel cell technology. To achieve this target, we report a one-step doping method to prepare S-doped Fe–N–C catalysts using zeolite imidazole framework (ZIF-8) and iron (III) thiocyanate (Fe(SCN)₃) as precursor. Different from conventional doping approach, i.e. physical mixing, Fe(SCN)₃ is in-situ added during ZIF-8 formation which would encapsulate Fe(SCN)₃ molecules inside ZIF-8 to avoid structure destruction and create potential replacement of Zn ions by Fe ions to form uniform Fe–N₄ complexes. As a result, the prepared S-doped Fe–N–C catalysts own large specific surface areas with a maximum value of 1326 ​m² ​g⁻¹ and a dual-scale porous structure that benefits mass transport. Significantly, the composition-optimized catalyst exhibits superior ORR activity in both 0.1 ​M HClO₄ electrolyte and 0.1 ​M KOH electrolyte, in which the half-wave potential reaches 0.81 ​V and 0.92 ​V (vs. RHE), respectively. Remarkable stability is also attained, which loses 2 ​mV only after 10000 potential cycles in O₂-saturated 0.1 ​M HClO₄ and remains almost constant in O₂-saturated 0.1 ​M KOH, surpassing commercial Pt/C catalyst in both acidic and alkaline medium.     

Microstructure and electrical conductivity of 10% Yb-doped SrCeO3 ceramics

As a candidate material for hydrogen separation, Yb-doped SrCeO₃ has attracted increasing attention in recent decades. In the present study, Yb-doped SrCe_0.9Yb_0.1O_3-α ceramics were prepared by the dry pressing and sintering approach, with the microstructure evolution and the micro morphology investigated. It was indicated that the ceramics sintered in air were of a pure perovskite structure, and that the sintering temperature had a significant effect on the growth of ceramic grains. The average grain size increased from 1 ​μm to 10 ​μm with an increase in sintering temperature from 1300 to 1500 ​°C. Further investigation of the thermodynamics and kinetics of grain growth revealed that the grain boundary diffusion was the main driving force of grain growth during solid phase sintering, with a grain growth index of 4 and an activation energy of approximately 61.23 ​kJ ​mol⁻¹. These results illustrate an obvious tendency of grain size growth. By electrochemical workstation with different atmospheres the effects of sintering temperature on the conductivity were characterized in the temperature range of 700–900 ​°C. The electrical conductivities σ of SrCe_0.9Yb_0.1O_3-α ceramics in different atmospheres were as follows: σ(wet hydrogen) ​> ​σ(dry hydrogen) ​> ​σ(dry air) ​> ​σ(wet air). In the test atmosphere containing water and hydrogen the conductivity of protons increased with increasing temperature because of the protons jump between lattices in the form of interstitial hydrogen ions or bare protons.     

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.     

Zr-xNb-4Sn alloys with low Young’s modulus and magnetic susceptibility for biomedical implants

The microstructure, mechanical and magnetic properties of Zr–x (8, 9, 10, wt.%)Nb–4Sn alloys were investigated to obtain novel Zr-based alloy with low Young’s modulus and magnetic susceptibility for biomedical implants. After homogenization annealing, hot forging and solution annealing, Zr–8Nb–4Sn, Zr–9Nb–4Sn and Zr–10Nb–4Sn alloys were composed of β+α″ phase, β+α″ phase, β+ω phase, respectively. The temperature at which the α" and ω phase were transformed into β phase during the heating process was about 200 ​°C, and the phase transformation temperature decreased with the increase of Nb element. Among all the Zr–x (x ​= ​8,9,10)Nb–4Sn(wt.%) alloys, Zr–9Nb–4Sn alloy had the lowest Young's modulus of 46.6 ​GPa and the low magnetic susceptibility of 1.294 ​× ​10⁻⁶ cm³g⁻¹, which has a good application prospect for biomedical applications.     

A novel graphite/phenolic resin bipolar plate modified by doping carbon fibers for the application of proton exchange membrane fuel cells

In this study, the carbon fibers treated by three methods were selected as a reinforcement to investigate the influence on the properties of composite bipolar plates. The properties and microstructure of the composite bipolar plate were characterized by the four-point probe, universal test machine, contact angle tester and scanning electron microscopy. The optimum treatment methods and the fiber content were analysed. The results showed that the carbon fibers treated by Fenton reagent for 2 ​h exhibited the best performance, which could improve the electrical conductivity and the flexural strength for composite bipolar plate. Besides, the optimal content content of carbon fibers treated by Fenton reagent was 4%. The maximum power density of the PEMFC with the composite bipolar plates could reach 662.75 ​mW ​cm⁻² in H₂-air conditions. Therefore, the phenolic resin/graphite composite bipolar plate modified by doping carbon fibers was a promising candidate for bipolar plate materials for PEMFC.     

石墨相氮化碳表面包覆改善锂离子电池正极材料LiCoO2电化学性能的研究

通过简单的固相法和液相法,分别制备出石墨相氮化碳（g-C₃N₄）表面改性的商品化LiCoO₂复合材料,采用扫描电子显微镜观察改性后的材料,发现g-C₃N₄都均匀地包裹在LiCoO₂表面。两种g-C₃N₄-LiCoO₂复合材料被用作锂离子电池的正极材料,电化学测试结果显示,固相法制得的g-C₃N₄-LiCoO₂复合材料在0.2 C的倍率下充放电测试,首次比容量达167 mA·h·g^-1,循环80次后,比容量仍达132 mA·h·g^-1,高于未经g-C₃N₄包裹的纯LiCoO₂（98 mA·h·g^-1）;液相法制得的Y-C₃N₄-LiCoO₂复合材料循环稳定性明显优于同类材料,循环80次后容量保持率均在95%以上。试验证实,g-C₃N₄表面改性的策略具有一定的实用价值,改性后,材料优异的电化学性能归因于g-C₃N₄的包裹处理,这不仅增强了固体电解质界面（SEI）的稳定性,也抑制了锂离子嵌入/脱出电极材料时引起LiCoO₂体积的变化。     

Bimetal nickel–cobalt phosphide directly grown on commercial graphite substrate by the one-step electrodeposition as efficient electrocatalytic electrode

It is challenging to find a method to obtain a catalyst with low cost and efficient multifunctional performances. Herein, in order to obtain the electrode with high-performance water splitting and non-enzymatic glucose detection, the commercial graphite sheet (GS) with excellent durability and electroconductivity was used as substrate material, and the non-noble ternary component Ni–Co–P catalyst with hierarchical architecture was fabricated on GS via a co-electrodeposition. The catalyst only required low overpotentials of 44.6, 76.5 and 49 mV to drive the current density of 10 mA cm⁻² alongside with the smaller Tafel slopes of 39.2, 44.8 and 112 mV dec⁻¹ for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in 1.0 M KOH, 0.5 M H₂SO₄ and 1.0 M PBS solution, respectively. For oxygen evolution reaction (OER), the catalyst demonstrated a low overpotential of 304 mV to achieve the current density of 20 mA cm⁻² with excellent Tafel slope of 89.8 mV dec⁻¹ in alkaline solution. Furthermore, the Ni–Co–P/GS electrode serving as non-enzymatic glucose sensor exhibited the superior electrocatalytic activity with an ultrahigh sensitivity of 7400 μA mM⁻¹ cm⁻², low detection limit of 0.425 μM (S/N = 3), and wide linear range (1–1200 μM).     

氮化碳自组装包裹对SnO2TiO2复合锂离子电池负极材料电化学性能的影响

通过简单的石墨相氮化碳(g-C₃N₄)纳米片自组装沉积法,制备了g-C₃N₄包裹的SnO₂-TiO₂纳米复合材料.扫描电子显微镜观察显示,g-C₃N₄均匀地包裹在SnO₂-TiO₂纳米颗粒上.SnO₂-TiO₂-C₃N₄纳米复合材料被用作锂离子电池的负极材料,在0.2C的倍率下循环20次后,比容量达到380.2 mA·h·g^-1,明显高于未经g-C₃N₄包裹的纯的SnO₂(51.6 mA·h·g^-1)和SnO₂-TiO₂纳米复合材料.在0.1~0.5C的倍率充放电测试中,SnO₂-TiO₂-C₃N₄纳米复合材料的比容量仅从490 mA·h·g^-1衰减到330 mA·h·g^-1,高倍率下抗衰减性能优于同类材料.材料优异的电化学性能归功于g-C₃N₄的包裹处理,这不仅增强了固体电解质界面(SEI)的稳定性,也抑制了锂离子嵌入-脱出时SnO₂和TiO₂纳米颗粒的体积变化.     

Nickel-introduced structurally ordered PtCuNi/C as high performance electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

Designing highly active and durable oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalysts is essential for developing efficient proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). In this work, ordered PtCuNi/C nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized using an impregnation reduction method. This study shows that the incorporation of Ni in ordered PtCu/C can effectively adjust the electronic structure of Pt, thereby optimizing oxygen binding energy for the ORR. The obtained intermetallic ordered PtCuNi/C NPs significantly improved ORR activity and durability compared to ordered PtCu/C. Specifically, PtCu_0·5Ni_0·5/C-700 shows a mass activity of 1.29 ​A ​mg _Pt⁻¹ ​at 0.9 ​V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), which is about 9.2 times higher than that of commercial Pt/C. PtCu_0.5Ni_0.5/C-700 is also shown to be competent cathode catalyst for a single-cell system exhibiting high power density (461 ​mW ​cm⁻²). This work demonstrates that ordered PtCu_0·5Ni_0·5/C-700 can be used as a highly active and durable ORR catalyst in PEMFCs.     

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.