A comparative study on the degradation behaviors of overcharged lithium-ion batteries under different ambient temperatures

In the current work, a series of experiments are carried out to investigate the degradation behavior of lithium-ion batteries during overcharge cycling, as well as the influence of ambient temperature on the degradation. In which, different charge cut-off voltages (4.5, 4.8, and 5.0 V) and ambient temperatures (0°C, 20°C, 50°C, and 70 °C) are included. During the overcharge process, the batteries demonstrate severe temperature rises, and several key electrochemical parameters such as the charge capacity, energy density, median voltage, and resistances all increase, revealing the deterioration of heat generation and electrode kinetics. Besides that, batteries exhibit serious degradation behavior during the overcharge cycling, which is presented through the evolution of battery temperature curves, charge voltage curves, and internal resistance curves. Moreover, the severity of degradation exacerbates with the increasing overcharge degree. Finally, it is found that deep-overcharged batteries may be more sensitive to the ambient temperature than slight-overcharged ones, where an abusive temperature can significantly aggravate the corresponding degradation.     

Surface homogenizing heterostructure coatings induced by Ti3C2Tx MXene for enhanced cycle performance of lithium-rich cathode materials

The layered lithium-rich manganese-based cathode material (Li_1.2Mn_0.54Co_0.13Ni_0.13) has the significant advantage of high specific capacity, but this material also suffers serious defects, including severe capacity attenuation and voltage attenuation during the cycle. At present, most researchers have been working to optimize the cycle performance of lithium-rich materials. In this work, we propose a surface homogenizing heterostructure coating induced by MXene modification to reduce capacity reduction and voltage decay. It can be found that the initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE) increases from 77.2% for the bare electrode Li_1.2Mn_0.54Co_0.13Ni_0.13 (LMO) to 85.5% for 1.4 wt% MXene (Ti₃C₂T_x, T_x represents the surface terminations: OH, O, F) modified lithium-rich (TO2). Furthermore, the discharge specific capacity of the electrode at 5 C rate increased from 160.7 mAh g⁻¹ for LMO to 200.6 mAh g⁻¹ for TO2. More prominently, the outstanding cycle stability with capacity retention rate is 82.1% for TO2 after 200 cycles, while only 64.7% for LMO, and the average discharge voltage dropped from 0.788 to 0.468 V. In addition, the mechanism for improving the electrochemical performance is systematically studied.     

Effect of expander shape on cooling characteristics by using a model pulse tube refrigerator

Pulse tube refrigerators do not have moving parts in the cold section, and they have low vibration, high reliability, and long life. The expander in refrigerators typically has an inverted U or coaxial shape because this attains a wider absorber area, lower height, and compactness. However, the performance of a Stirling-type pulse tube refrigerator is inferior to that of a Stirling refrigerator. Cooling characteristics of the pulse tube refrigerator greatly depend on the shape of the expander. In this study, an inertance-type refrigerator, which uses ambient air for the working gas, was developed to examine the effect of expander shape. This refrigerator model with changeable expander operated with a Stirling cycle, and it was composed of a reciprocating compressor, after-cooler, regenerator, absorber, pulse tube, hot-end, and inertance tube with reservoir. The following expander shapes were tested: in-line, L shape, L-L shape, and coaxial shape. The effect of expander shape on cooling capacity was examined experimentally and numerically using the model pulse tube refrigerator. The results of experiments showed that the L shape expander had the highest performance and the coaxial expander had the lowest performance. In addition, the characteristics of the gas flow in each expander were confirmed by fluid dynamics analysis.     

Life cycle assessment of domestic fuel cell micro combined heat and power generation: Exploring influential factors

Residential Fuel Cell micro combined heat and power (FC-μCHP) systems can help decarburizing the energy system. In the European ene.field project, the environmental performance of FC-μCHP under different conditions was therefore evaluated by means of a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Important influential factors were explored, i.e. heating demands, full load hours (FLHs) and electricity replacement mixes (ERMs). The systems were compared with a stand-alone Gas Condensing Boiler (GCB) and a heat pump (HP, only in single family homes, SFHs). For the initially assumed FLHs and the current ENTSO-E ERM, relevant environmental impacts including climate change are generally smaller for the FC-μCHPs than for the HP and the stand-alone GCB. In the setting “existing SFHs in central climate” with the highest deployment potential, GHG emission savings are higher the more carbon-intensive the ERM is and/or higher the net electricity export into the grid is. The results are discussed and put into perspective. Further research demands as well as product development opportunities are outlined. The importance of a green hydrogen economy is emphasized.     

Materials resistance to corrosion by I2–HI–H2O mixtures for the realization of a sulfur-iodine plant

The substances involved in the sulfur-iodine (SI) thermochemical cycle to produce H₂ by water splitting are very corrosive and may attack reactors, pumps, catalysts supports, and whatever part of the plant. This paper investigates the corrosion exerted by HI solutions in liquid, boiling, and gaseous phase at different temperatures. It shows the broadest overview of the behavior of different materials, ranging from pure metals to metallic alloys, from carbon materials to organic polymers, from ceramic materials to composite ones. Commercial nickel alloys and the effect of a specific element in their composition have here considerable attention. Regarding the composites materials, the impact of the substrate as well as the coating nature and thickness is studied, also through SEM-EDS (Scan Electron Microscope Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy) investigations.Carbon materials performed well, while most of the analyzed materials showed intergranular corrosion, pitting phenomena, and sometimes, carbide precipitation in the higher energy zones.     

High lithium storage of Co3O4 enabled by integrating hollow and porous carbon scaffolds

The Co₃O₄, as a potential anode of lithium-ion batteries, has gained considerable attention because of high theoretical capacity. However, the Co₃O₄ is suffering from serious structure deterioration and rapid capacity fading due to its bulky volume change during cyclic charge/discharge process. Herein, to stabilize the lithium storage performance of the Co₃O₄ nanoparticles, a characteristic carbon scaffold (HPC) integrating hollow and porous structures has been fabricated by a well-designed method for the first time. The ultrafine Co₃O₄ nanoparticles are cleverly anchored on the HPC (HPC@Co₃O₄) and hence achieve significantly improved electrochemical properties including high capacity, improved reaction kinetics and outstanding cycle stability, showing high capacity of 1084.7 mAh g^-1 after 200 cycles at 200 mA g^-1 as well as 681.4 mAh g^-1 after 300 cycles at 1000 mA g^-1. The HPC@Co₃O₄ therefore shows good promising for application in advanced lithium-ion battery anodes. The results of the systematically material and electrochemical characterizations indicate that the synergistic effects of ultrafine Co₃O₄ nanoparticles and well-designed HPC scaffolds are responsible for the outstand performance of the HPC@Co₃O₄ anode. Moreover, this work can enrich the understanding and development of stable and high-performance metal oxide-based lithium-ion battery anodes for advanced lithium storage.     

Catalytic properties of dispersed iron oxides Fe2O3/MO2 (M = Zr,Ce, Ti and Si) for sulfuric acid decomposition reaction: Role of support

Supported iron oxides have been established as an important class of catalyst for high temperature sulfuric acid decomposition. With an objective to elucidate the role of support in modifying the overall catalytic properties of dispersed iron oxide catalysts, a series of supported iron oxide based catalysts, Fe₂O₃ (15 wt%)/MO₂ (M = Zr, Ce, Ti and Si), synthesized by adsorption-equilibrium method, is investigated for sulfuric acid decomposition reaction. The structure of dispersed iron oxide phases largely depended on the nature of the support oxide as revealed by the XRD and Mössbauer studies. α-Fe₂O₃ is found to be present as a major phase on ZrO₂ and CeO₂ support while ε-Fe₂O₃ was the major phase on silica supported iron oxide. On the other hand, presence of mixed oxide Fe₂TiO₅ was revealed over TiO₂ support. Strong dispersed metal oxide-support interactions inhibited the total reduction of the dispersed phase on SiO₂ and TiO₂ as compared to complete reduction of dispersed iron oxide on CeO₂ and ZrO₂ supports during temperature programmed reduction upto 1000 °C. The order of catalytic activity at a temperature of ～750 °C is observed as Fe₂O₃/SiO₂ > Fe₂TiO₅/TiO₂ > Fe₂O₃/ZrO₂ > Fe₂O₃/CeO₂, while at higher temperatures of ～900 °C the SO₂ yield is found to be comparable for all catalysts. A relationship between the rate of sulfate decomposition and catalytic activity is established through detailed TG-DTA investigations of sulfated catalyst and support. Considerable influence of the support oxide on the composition, structure, redox properties, morphology and catalytic activities of the active iron oxide dispersed phase has been observed. Thus, the support oxides operate as a critical component in the complex supported metal oxide catalysts and these findings might influence the design and development of future high temperature sulfuric acid decomposition catalysts.     

脉冲电流对6016-T4铝合金板材力学性能的影响

为研究在电流辅助成形时脉冲电流的电流密度、占空比和脉冲频率3个因素对6016-T4铝合金板材力学性能的影响规律,设计了3因素5水平的正交实验。实验表明,对6016-T4铝合金力学性能影响的主次因素是:电流密度>占空比>脉冲频率。在此基础上,选用主次2个因素,即电流密度和脉冲频率,使用控制变量法进行进一步的实验研究。实验结果表明,电流密度对6016-T4铝合金力学性能影响较大,改变电流密度的同时带来了明显的焦耳热效应,该效应对材料有明显的软化作用,降低了材料的流动应力,但是,同时也降低了铝合金板的伸长率,这是因为过大的电流密度加剧了试样的主应变演化,进而促进了试样的断裂。而脉冲频率的变化对6016-T4铝合金板材的力学性能影响很小,这也印证了正交实验的结论。     

Simulation Study on Hydrogen-Heating-Power Poly-Generation System based on Solar Driven Supercritical Water Biomass Gasification with Compressed Gas Products as an Energy Storage System

Supercritical water gasification driven by solar energy is a promising way for clean utilization of biomass with high moisture content, but direct discharge of liquid residual causes energy waste and decreases energy efficiency. To reduce energy waste, a poly-generation system for hydrogen-rich gas production coupling heat supply and power generation based on supercritical water gasification of biomass driven by concentrated solar energy was established in this paper, which also provided a novel energy storage method to overcome the shortcomings of solar discontinuity. Thermodynamic model of the system was proposed and life cycle assessment(LCA) of the system was conducted. Influence of different parameters(temperature of 600℃ to 800℃, outlet temperature of heat exchanger of 42℃ to 56℃, biomass slurry concentration of 5% to 6.5%) on the gasification performance, energy and exergy efficiency, energy distribution and global warming potential(GWP) was discussed. The results indicated that hydrogen yield increased as gasification temperature increased since free radical reaction was enhanced which gas production reaction was classified into. Molar fraction of hydrogen increased as gasification temperature increased and reached 65.6% at 750℃. Energy and exergy efficiency of the system reached 74.84% and 34.87% at 700℃ and 600℃ respectively and that of gas production was 18.15% at 650℃, which was the highest. Increasing reaction temperature and decreasing biomass slurry concentration were effective ways to decrease GWP. Optimal operating parameter was reaction temperature of 650℃, outlet temperature of heat exchanger of 50℃ and biomass concentration of 5%.