A Lithium–Air Battery Stably Working at High Temperature with High Rate Performance

Driven by the increasing requirements for energy supply in both modern life and the automobile industry, the lithium–air battery serves as a promising candidate due to its high energy density. However, organic solvents in electrolytes are likely to rapidly vaporize and form flammable gases under increasing temperatures. In this case, serious safety problems may occur and cause great harm to people. Therefore, a kind of lithium–air that can work stably under high temperature is desirable. Herein, through the use of an ionic liquid and aligned carbon nanotubes, and a fiber shaped design, a new type of lithium–air battery that can effectively work at high temperatures up to 140 °C is developed. Ionic liquids can offer wide electrochemical windows and low vapor pressures, as well as provide high thermal stability for lithium–air batteries. The aligned carbon nanotubes have good electric and heat conductivity. Meanwhile, the fiber format can offer both flexibility and weavability, and realize rapid heat conduction and uniform heat distribution of the battery. In addition, the high temperature has also largely improved the specific powers by increasing the ionic conductivity and catalytic activity of the cathode. Consequently, the lithium–air battery can work stably at 140 °C with a high specific current of 10 A g^‐1 for 380 cycles, indicating high stability and good rate performance at high temperatures. This work may provide an effective paradigm for the development of high‐performance energy storage devices.     

A Tunable 3D Nanostructured Conductive Gel Framework Electrode for High‐Performance Lithium Ion Batteries

This study develops a tunable 3D nanostructured conductive gel framework as both binder and conductive framework for lithium ion batteries. A 3D nanostructured gel framework with continuous electron pathways can provide hierarchical pores for ion transport and form uniform coatings on each active particle against aggregation. The hybrid gel electrodes based on a polypyrrole gel framework and Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles as a model system in this study demonstrate the best rate performance, the highest achieved mass ratio of active materials, and the highest achieved specific capacities when considering total electrode mass, compared to current literature. This 3D nanostructured gel‐based framework represents a powerful platform for various electrochemically active materials to enable the next‐generation high‐energy batteries.     

石墨烯包覆分子筛复合电极材料的制备及其性能研究

以4A分子筛(4A)和改进Hummers法制备的氧化石墨烯凝胶(GO)为原料, 按一定质量比进行混合超声分散, 以混合分散液为前驱体煅烧制备了氧化还原石墨烯(RGO)包覆的三维复合4A/RGO电极材料。采用X射线衍射(XRD)、拉曼光谱(Raman)、孔径分析、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)和电化学测试等方法研究了复合材料的结构、形貌及超级电容性能。测试结果表明, 4A均匀地穿插在RGO片层中, 阻止了RGO片层之间相互堆积, 而RGO片层之间相互链接, 形成三维空间导电网络, 提高了复合电极材料的导电性。当GO与4A质量比为1:6时, 复合材料在4 A/g电流密度下比电容可达450 F/g, 在此电流密度下循环800次后, 其比容量保持率为85.7%, 表现出良好的倍率性能和循环稳定性。该4A/RGO复合电极材料超级电容性能优于纯4A或RGO, 可归因于4A和RGO之间的协同效应。     

碳纳米管纸/纳米硅复合电极的锂离子电池性能

采用纳米硅和多壁碳纳米管(MWCNTs)复合材料作为活性材料,以纸纤维为基体,MWCNTs为导电剂制得的MWCNTs导电纸代替铜箔集流体应用于硅基锂离子电池。采用扫描电子显微镜、透射电子显微镜、恒流放电测试、电化学阻抗对复合材料的形貌和电化学性能进行分析。结果表明,采用MWCNTs导电纸-纳米硅复合的锂离子电池在80mA/g的电流密度下,循环50次后比容量达到约1000mAh/g,在2000mA/g大电流密度下仍保持好的循环稳定性。     

Core–Shell Si/C Nanospheres Embedded in Bubble Sheet‐like Carbon Film with Enhanced Performance as Lithium Ion Battery Anodes

Due to its high theoretical capacity and low lithium insertion voltage plateau, silicon has been considered one of the most promising anodes for high energy and high power density lithium ion batteries (LIBs). However, its rapid capacity degradation, mainly caused by huge volume changes during lithium insertion/extraction processes, remains a significant challenge to its practical application. Engineering Si anodes with abundant free spaces and stabilizing them by incorporating carbon materials has been found to be effective to address the above problems. Using sodium chloride (NaCl) as a template, bubble sheet‐like carbon film supported core–shell Si/C composites are prepared for the first time by a facile magnesium thermal reduction/glucose carbonization process. The capacity retention achieves up to 93.6% (about 1018 mAh g^?1) after 200 cycles at 1 A g^?1. The good performance is attributed to synergistic effects of the conductive carbon film and the hollow structure of the core–shell nanospheres, which provide an ideal conductive matrix and buffer spaces for respectively electron transfer and Si expansion during lithiation process. This unique structure decreases the charge transfer resistance and suppresses the cracking/pulverization of Si, leading to the enhanced cycling performance of bubble sheet‐like composite.     

锂离子电池SiOx/C/CNTs复合负极材料的制备及其电化学性能

通过机械球磨、喷雾干燥和高温热解制备锂离子电池SiO_x/C/CNTs复合负极材料,采用X射线衍射仪(XRD)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、透射电子显微镜(TEM)、X射线能谱仪(EDS)和恒流充放电测试仪,对其物相组成、颗粒形貌及电化学性能进行了表征,并与SiO_x/C和SiO_x/C/石墨烯复合材料的性能对比。研究结果表明,CNTs的引入不仅可以增加复合材料的可逆容量,还可以有效提高材料的循环稳定性。SiO_x/C/CNTs复合负极材料在100mA/g下首次放电比容量为1 981.5mAh/g,循环100周后,放电容量仍有474.0mAh/g,倍率性能较优,具有良好的应用前景。     

A High‐Performance Li–O2 Battery with a Strongly Solvating Hexamethylphosphoramide Electrolyte and a LiPON‐Protected Lithium Anode

The aprotic Li–O₂ battery has attracted a great deal of interest because theoretically it can store more energy than today's Li‐ion batteries. However, current Li–O₂ batteries suffer from passivation/clogging of the cathode by discharged Li₂O₂, high charging voltage for its subsequent oxidation, and accumulation of side reaction products (particularly Li₂CO₃ and LiOH) upon cycling. Here, an advanced Li–O₂ battery with a hexamethylphosphoramide (HMPA) electrolyte is reported that can dissolve Li₂O₂, Li₂CO₃, and LiOH up to 0.35, 0.36, and 1.11 × 10^?3m , respectively, and a LiPON‐protected lithium anode that can be reversibly cycled in the HMPA electrolyte. Compared to the benchmark of ether‐based Li–O₂ batteries, improved capacity, rate capability, voltaic efficiency, and cycle life are achieved for the HMPA‐based Li–O₂ cells. More importantly, a combination of advanced research techniques provide compelling evidence that operation of the HMPA‐based Li–O₂ battery is backed by nearly reversible formation/decomposition of Li₂O₂ with negligible side reactions.     

源于溪木贼的高性能锂离子电池三维多孔生物质硅/碳复合负极材料

锂离子电池硅基负极材料的理论比容量比传统石墨材料高10倍,是最有前途的锂离子电池负极材料之一.然而硅基纳米材料的制备工艺复杂、成本高昂,严重限制了锂离子电池硅负极的商业应用.本工作采用溪木贼为原料,通过深度还原、浅度氧化和碳包覆工艺制备了三维多孔生物质硅/碳复合材料(多孔3D-bio-Si/C).三维多孔结构不仅有利于...     

Oxide Nanostructures Hyperbranched with Thin and Hollow Metal Shells for High‐Performance Nanostructured Battery Electrodes

High‐performance electrochemical energy storage (EES) devices require the ability to modify and assemble electrode materials with superior reactivity and structural stability. The fabrication of different oxide/metal core‐branch nanoarrays with adjustable components and morphologies (e.g., nanowire and nanoflake) is reported on different conductive substrates. Hollow metal branches (or shells) wrapped around oxide cores are realized by electrodeposition using ZnO nanorods as a sacrificial template. In battery electrode application, the thin hollow metal branches can provide a mechanical protection of the oxide core and a highly conductive path for charges. As a demonstration, arrays of Co₃O₄/Ni core‐branch nanowires are evaluated as the anode for lithium ion batteries. The thin metal branches evidently improve the electrochemical performance with higher specific capacity, rate capability, and capacity retention than the unmodified Co₃O₄ counterparts.     

A Mesoporous Tungsten Oxynitride Nanofibers/Graphite Felt Composite Electrode with High Catalytic Activity for the Cathode in Zn-Br Flow Battery

High electrochemical polarization during a redox reaction in the electrode of aqueous zinc–bromine flow batteries largely limits its practical implementation as an effective energy storage system. This study demonstrates a rationally-designed composite electrode that exhibits a lower electrochemical polarization by providing a higher number of catalytically-active sites for faster bromine reaction, compared to a conventional graphite felt cathode. The composite electrode is composed of electrically-conductive graphite felt (GF) and highly active mesoporous tungsten oxynitride nanofibers (mWONNFs) that are prepared by electrospinning and simple heat treatments. Addition of the 1D mWONNFs to porous GF produces a web-like structure that significantly facilitates the reaction kinetics and ion diffusion. The cell performance achieves in this study demonstrated high energy efficiencies of 89% and 80% at current densities of 20 and 80 mA cm⁻², respectively. Furthermore, the cell can also be operated at a very high current density of 160 mA cm⁻², demonstrating an energy efficiency of 62%. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of the mWONNF/GF composite as the electrode material in zinc–bromine flow batteries.     

Water‐Soluble Sericin Protein Enabling Stable Solid–Electrolyte Interphase for Fast Charging High Voltage Battery Electrode

Spinel LiNi_0.5Mn_1.5O₄ (LNMO) is the most promising cathode material for achieving high energy density lithium‐ion batteries attributed to its high operating voltage (≈4.75 V). However, at such high voltage, the commonly used battery electrolyte is suffered from severe oxidation, forming unstable solid–electrolyte interphase (SEI) layers. This would induce capacity fading, self‐discharge, as well as inferior rate capabilities for the electrode during cycling. This work first time discovers that the electrolyte oxidation is effectively negated by introducing an electrochemically stable silk sericin protein, which is capable to stabilize the SEI layer and suppress the self‐discharge behavior for LNMO. In addition, robust mechanical support of sericin coating maintains the structural integrity during the fast charging/discharging process. Benefited from these merits, the sericin‐based LNMO electrode possesses a much lower Li‐ion diffusion energy barrier (26.1 kJ mol⁻¹) for than that of polyvinylidene fluoride‐based LNMO electrode (37.5 kJ mol⁻¹), delivering a remarkable high‐rate performance. This work heralds a new paradigm for manipulating interfacial chemistry of electrode to solve the key obstacle for LNMO commercialization, opening a powerful avenue for unlocking the current challenges for a wide family of high operating voltage cathode materials (>4.5 V) toward practical applications.