Carbon dioxide activated carbide-derived carbon monoliths as high performance adsorbents

Carbide-derived carbon (CDC) monoliths (DUT-38) with a distinctive macropore network are physically activated using carbon dioxide as oxidizing agent. This procedure is carried out in a temperature range between 850 and 975 °C with durations ranging from 2 to 6 h. Resulting materials show significantly increased specific surface areas as high as 3100 m²/g and total (micro/meso) pore volumes of more than 1.9 cm³/g. The methane (214 mg/g at 80 bar/25 °C), hydrogen (55.6 mg/g at 40 bar/−196 °C), and n-butane (860 mg/g at 77 vol.%/25 °C) storage capacities of the activated CDCs are significantly higher as compared to the non-activated reference material. Moreover, carbon dioxide activation is a suitable method for the removal of metal chlorides and chlorine residuals adsorbed in the pores of CDC after high temperature chlorination. The activation does not influence the hydrophobic surface properties of the CDCs as determined by water adsorption experiments. The macropore network and the monolithic shape of the starting materials can be fully preserved during the activation procedure. n-Butane breakthrough studies demonstrate the materials applicability as an efficient hydrophobic filter material by combining excellent materials transport with some of the highest capacity values that have ever been reported for CDCs.     

Enhanced anode performance of micro/meso-porous reduced graphene oxide prepared from carbide-derived carbon for energy storage devices

Micro/meso-porous reduced graphite oxide (MMRGO) nanosheets were produced using precursor carbide-derived carbon (CDC), which was produced at a high temperature of 1200 °C, through a massive wet chemistry synthetic route involving graphite oxidation and microwave reduction. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) show that the MMRGO nanosheets were fabricated with 2–3 layers and ripple-like corrugations. N₂ sorption isotherms confirmed that micro/meso-pores coexisted in the RGO sample from CDC. In the anode application of Li-ion batteries, this RGO sample had an enhanced capacity performance at the 0.1 C rate and 1 C rate, with ∼1200 mAh g⁻¹ at the 100th cycle and ∼1000 mAh g⁻¹ at the 200th cycle, respectively.     

A carbide-derived carbon laminate used as a mechanoelectrical sensor

The mechanoelectrical effects attained through the enforced transfer of an ionic liquid through an electric double-layer capacitor-like laminate are described. The core component of the laminate is carbide-derived carbon, supported and separated by poly(vinylidene fluoride co-hexafluoropropylene). The different lateral sizes of the cations and anions of the ionic liquid electrolyte cause their different mobilities in the porous carbon structure. The judicious matching of the porosity of the carbon with the particular ionic liquid allows the formation of a diffusion potential solely by mechanical strain. Bending of this sheet-like laminate generates voltage and current; hence, it can be used as a motion sensor or as an energy harvesting unit.     

Functionalized N-doped interconnected carbon nanofibers as an anode material for sodium-ion storage with excellent performance

The electrochemical performance of sodium-ion battery was improved by using functionalized interconnected N-doped carbon nanofibers (FN-CNFs) as the anode. The material was synthesized with polypyrrole as precursor by a simple method. The FN-CNF electrode exhibits excellent rate capability and cycling stability, delivering a capacity of 134.2 mAh g⁻¹ at a high current density of 200 mA g⁻¹ after 200 cycles and retains a capacity of 73 mAh g⁻¹ even at an extremely high current density of 20 A g⁻¹. The superior performance can be attributed to N-doped sites and functionalized groups, which are capable of capturing sodium ions rapidly and reversibly through surface adsorption and surface redox reactions.     

电活化玻碳电极循环伏安法测定对苯二酚的研究

研究简化电极处理过程测定环境水样中对苯二酚含量的效果。以电活化的玻碳电极为工作电极,采用循环伏安法测定环境水样中对苯二酚的含量。结果表明,电活化的玻碳电极对对苯二酚的氧化还原反应有明显的电催化作用,对苯二酚的氧化还原峰电流与其浓度在1×10^(-6)(-6)¹×101×10^(-4)mol/L范围内呈现良好的线性关系。电活化的玻碳电极具有良好的重现性,用该方法测定了环境水样中对苯二酚的含量,回收率为93.8%(-4)mol/L范围内呈现良好的线性关系。电活化的玻碳电极具有良好的重现性,用该方法测定了环境水样中对苯二酚的含量,回收率为93.8%¹03.6%,结果令人满意。从而建立一种简便、快速、准确的测定环境中对苯二酚含量的方法。     

电活化玻碳电极循环伏安法测定对苯二酚的研究

研究简化电极处理过程测定环境水样中对苯二酚含量的效果。以电活化的玻碳电极为工作电极,采用循环伏安法测定环境水样中对苯二酚的含量。结果表明,电活化的玻碳电极对对苯二酚的氧化还原反应有明显的电催化作用,对苯二酚的氧化还原峰电流与其浓度在1×10~(-6)~1×10~(-4)mol/L范围内呈现良好的线性关系。电活化的玻碳电极具有良好的重现性,用该方法测定了环境水样中对苯二酚的含量,回收率为93.8%~103.6%,结果令人满意。从而建立一种简便、快速、准确的测定环境中对苯二酚含量的方法。     

Electrochemical performance of arc-produced carbon nanotubes as anode material for lithium-ion batteries

The effects of etching process on the morphology, structure and electrochemical performance of arc-produced multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as anode material for lithium-ion batteries were systematically investigated by TEM and a variety of electrochemical testing techniques. It was found that the etched CNTs exhibited four times higher reversible capacity than that of raw CNTs, and possessed excellent cyclability with almost 100% capacity retention after 30 cycles. The kinetic properties of three kinds of CNTs electrodes involving the pristine (CNTs-1), etched (CNTs-2) as well as etch-carbonized samples (CNTs-3) were characterized via ac impedance measurement. It was indicated that, after 30 cycles the exchange current density i₀ of etched CNTs ((7.6-7.8) × 10⁻³ A cm⁻²) was higher than that of the raw CNTs (5.9 × 10⁻³ A cm⁻²), suggesting the electrochemical activity of CNTs was enhanced by the etching treatment. The storage characteristics of the CNTs electrodes at room temperature and 50 °C were particularly compared. It was found that the film resistance on CNTs electrode generally tended to become large with the elongation of storage time, especially storage at high temperature. In comparison with CNTs-1 and CNTs-3, CNTs-2 exhibited more distinctly increase of film resistance, which is related with the surface properties.     

Porous nitrogen doped carbon sphere as high performance anode of sodium-ion battery

The carbon material is regarded as the most promising anode candidate for sodium ion battery. In this paper, we found that the porous structure is a critical factor for the improving of carbon anode material. Porous structure is successfully fabricated in nitrogen doped carbon sphere (N-CS) via the mature template-assisted method and the sodium storage property of the porous nitrogen doped carbon sphere (P-N-CS) and N-CS is investigated. The results show that the P-N-CS possesses super rate capability of 155 mAh g⁻¹ at 1 A g⁻¹, which is much higher than that of N-CS (18 mAh g⁻¹). In addition, the P-N-CS exhibits outstanding cycle stability with 206 mAh g⁻¹ after 600 cycles at 0.2 A g⁻¹ and the capacity of N-CS is only 96 mAh g⁻¹ at the same condition. The super electrochemical performance of P-N-CS could be attributed to the high content of pores. Moreover, the high content of pyridinic and graphitic N could facilitate the transfer of sodium ion and electron.     

In-situ thermal activation of carbide-derived carbon

Microporous carbons attract high interest due to their application as a medium for gas storage, catalyst support or electrode material in lithium ion batteries or supercapacitors. Carbide-derived carbons (CDC) produced by halogenation of carbides exhibit a narrow pore size distribution and a tunable pore and microstructure by choosing the appropriate carbide precursor and chlorination temperature. However, the pore volume is limited by the amount of metal in the carbide structure, and the variation of pore size by varying the process conditions is not possible for all carbides. With an in-situ thermal activation in CO₂ parallel to the chlorination, the porosity of the CDC materials can be further increased. This improved carbide-derived carbon process also allows producing novel pore structures which vary in the meso- to micropore ratio from the outside to the center of the particle. Thereby also the boarder case of shell-like carbon structures showing different pore size distributions in the shells can be produced. For this in-situ activation and chlorination of carbides the influence of the processing, the concentration of CO₂ and activation time on the pore structure of CDC was studied.     

Electrochemical performance of NiFe2O4 nanostructures incorporating activated carbon as an efficient electrode material

The quest for cost-efficient electro-active materials exhibiting high specific capacitance is currently a key focus in energy-related research. Owing to their high capacitance values, metal oxides (MOs) are preferably being utilized for energy storage applications as electrode materials in supercapacitors. However, the electrochemical performance of MOs is hindered due to less specific surface area and high tendency towards aggregation. Therefore, tuning in electrochemical activity of MOs is essential. In this framework, NiFe₂O₄ was prepared using a facile and cost-effective citrate-gel followed by auto-ignition method, and was incorporated with activated carbon contents to tune the electrochemical performance. Formation of inverse spinel structure of NFO and its stability throughout the compositions was examined using X-ray diffraction analysis. Well-dispersed, spherical and porous morphological features were visualized using a field emission scanning electron microscope. The electrochemical analysis was conducted using CH instruments 660 E via freshly prepared 4 M KOH solution. Cyclic voltammetry was carried out at constant potential window of 0.25–0.65 V and different scan rates (0.009–0.08 Vs^-1). The pseudo-capacitive behavior was perceived from occurrences of oxidation/reduction peaks. In addition, charge/discharge curves revealed cyclic stability over long range cycles. Specific capacitance, discharge time, energy and power density values were also measured for all the compositions and NFO with 1% activated carbon was found to be the most suitable candidate for use as electrode materials in the present work.     

Characterisation of steam-treated nanoporous carbide-derived carbon of TiC origin: structure and enhanced electrochemical performance

Modifications of pore size distribution and structural order of nanoporous carbide-derived carbon (CDC) materials with variety of surface areas and pore sizes were investigated using physical activation by etching with water vapour. Variable etching duration was used to explore the activation impact on the pore size distribution and the adsorption behaviour of TiC-derived carbon. A distribution of micro- and mesopores, modified during physical activation, was studied using N₂ and CO₂ adsorption. Notable impact of preceding carbon structure on the activation product was revealed by the results of scanning electron microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. An infrared spectroscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed that water-induced etching of CDC followed by high-temperature treatment in inert gas atmosphere does not change notably the total amount of surface oxygen, however, leads to the changes in a composition of oxygen containing functional groups in post-activated carbon. The electrochemical evaluation was performed in triethylmethylammonium tetrafluoroborate/acetonitrile electrolyte to elaborate the structure-electrochemical properties relationships on post-activated nanoporous CDC materials. It was observed that the degree of improvement in double-layer capacitance achievable with a steam-treatment significantly depends on the preceding properties of CDC prior treatment, whereby the highest capacitance, ~?160 Fg^?1, was reached for the steam-treated TiC-derived CDC made at 800 °C, which clearly is a very promising material for the electrical double-layer capacitor.     

Resorcinol-formaldehyde based porous carbon as an electrode material for supercapacitors

Porous carbon materials were prepared using resorcinol and formaldehyde catalyzed by KOH in a sol-gel process followed by carbonization, during which the KOH serves as an activating agent and generates pores mainly located in the micropore range. With an increase of mass ratio of KOH to resorcinol from 1 to 4, both the specific surface area and the pore volume of the carbons increased, from 522 to 2760 m²/g and 0.304 to 1.347 cm³/g, respectively, but the average pore diameter decreased from 4.4 to 2.5 nm. Samples were investigated as electrode materials in supercapacitors and the relevant electrochemical behavior was characterized by cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and constant current charge-discharge experiments using 30% KOH aqueous solution as electrolyte. The highest specific capacitance of up to 294 F/g was obtained at a current density 1 mA/cm² for the sample with mass ratio of KOH to resorcinol of 2. Only a slight decrease in capacitance for the same sample, from 294 to 242 F/g, was observed when the current density increased from 1 to 30 mA/cm². The specific capacitance only decayed 3% at a current density 30 mA/cm² after 1000 cycles, which indicates that the sample possesses excellent power property and cycle durability.     

An activated carbon monolith as an electrode material for supercapacitors

Activated carbon binderless monoliths with high consistency and large porosity, synthesised from a mesophase pitch, are studied as electrodes for supercapacitors. The electrochemical cells prepared provided high capacitance values in sulphuric acid media (334 F g⁻¹) and very low electrical resistivity, which results in a very efficient energy storage device (12 Wh Kg⁻¹ maximum energy density and 12,000 W Kg⁻¹ maximum power density). Long-term cycling experiments showed excellent stability with a reduction of the initial capacitance values of 19% after performing 23,000 galvanostatic cycles at ∼300 mA g⁻¹.     

Synthesis of MnOx/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite as an anode electrode for lithium-ion batteries

We report the high performance of the manganese oxide/reduced graphene oxide (MnOx/rGO) nanocomposite as an anode electrode of a lithium-ion battery. The composite is synthesized by a low temperature (83 °C) chemical solution reaction, and shows relatively high specific capacities (660 mAh g⁻¹) after 50 cycles. For MnOx/rGO composites, the cycling stability is increased remarkably as compared to that seen with individual MnOx, and this is due to the synergistic effects of both the components in the composite. The rGO acts as a conductive buffer layer that suppresses the volume change of MnOx, and simultaneously promotes the conductivity of MnOx. The functional groups of graphene oxide facilitate MnOx formation at low temperature, and this retains the MnOx-graphene oxide connection, thus improving the capacity and cycling stability.     

Multilayered silicon embedded porous carbon/graphene hybrid film as a high performance anode

Silicon (Si) has been regarded as one of the most attractive anode materials for the next generation lithium-ion batteries because of its large theoretical capacity, high safety, low cost and environmental benignity. However, the architecture of Si-based anode material still needs to be well designed to overcome the structure degradation and instability of the solid-electrolyte interphase caused by a large volume change during cycling. Here we report the electrochemical performances of a novel binder-free Si/carbon composite film consisting of alternatively stacked Si-porous carbon layers and graphene layers, which is synthesized by electrostatic spray deposition followed by heat treatment. For this composite film, Si nanoparticles are embedded in the porous carbon layer composed of nitrogen-doped carbon framework, carbon black and carbon nanotubes. And the combined Si-porous carbon layer is further sandwiched by flexible and conductive graphene sheets. The multilayered Si-porous carbon/graphene electrode shows a maximum reversible capacity of 1020 mAh g⁻¹ with 75% capacity retention after 100 cycles and a good rate capability on the basis of the total electrode weight. The excellent electrochemical performances are attributed to the fact that the layer-by-layer porous carbon matrix can accommodate the volume change of Si particles and maintain the structural and electrical integrities.     

Preparation and electrochemical performance of polyaniline-based carbon nanotubes as electrode material for supercapacitor

Nitrogen-containing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with open end and low specific surface area were prepared via the carbonization of polyaniline (PANI) nanotubes synthesized by a rapidly mixed reaction. On the basis of analyzing the morphologies and structures of the original and carbonized PANI nanotubes, the electrochemical properties of PANI-based CNTs obtained at different temperatures as electrode materials for supercapacitors using 30 wt.% aqueous solution of KOH as electrolyte were investigated by galvanostatic charge/discharge and cyclic voltammetry. It was found that the carbonized PANI nanotubes at 700 °C exhibit high specific capacitance of 163 F g⁻¹ at a current density of 0.1 A g⁻¹ and excellent rate capability in KOH solution. Using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurement the nitrogen state and content in PANI-CNTs were analysed, which could play important roles for the enhancement of electrochemical performance. When the appropriate content of nitrogen is present, the presence of pyrrole or pyridone and quaternary nitrogen is beneficial for the improvement of electron mobility and the wettability of electrode.     

Electrical double-layer characteristics of novel carbide-derived carbon materials

A variety of nanoporous carbide-derived carbon materials possessing improved pore size distributions were synthesised from a mixture of titanium carbide and titanium dioxide. It was observed that TiO₂ caused partial oxidation of the carbon particles created during high-temperature chlorination of the TiC/TiO₂ mixture. The resulting carbon powder is characterised by narrow pore size distribution with a peak pore size of around 8 Å and a noticeably smaller amount of pores below 6-7 Å compared to the carbon derived from pure TiC. Electrochemical and electrical double-layer characteristics of novel carbon materials in the acetonitrile solution of triethylmethylammonium tetrafluoroborate were obtained by using cyclic voltammetry and constant current methods. Carbon electrode materials of this study were tested over the temperature range from −10 °C to +60 °C. Results of this study affirmed a great potential of the synthesised advanced carbide-derived carbon, whose specific double-layer capacitance reaches approximately 90 F cm⁻³ and 125 F g⁻¹.