Ionic Liquid Assisted Electrospinning of Porous LiFe 0.4 Mn 0.6 PO 4 /CNFs as Free‐Standing Cathodes with a Pseudocapacitive Contribution for High‐Performance Lithium‐Ion Batteries

Tailoring activation of CoNiO nanoparticles/porous carbon nanofibers by atomic doping for high performance supercapacitors

Metal-organic framework (MOF) materials are rich in active sites and have a high specific surface area, which make them potential electrode materials. In this work, a simple immersion method combined with a carbonization treatment process is applied to prepare MOF derived composite materials (CoNiO/PCNFs). Among them, cobalt-based MOFs (Co-MOFs) are selected as the precursor and doped with Ni atoms, and the ratio of Co and Ni is tailored to acquire a high-performance electrode. The electrochemical results show that when the ratio of Co to Ni is 2 : 2, the prepared CoNiO/PCNFs-2 electrode has high capacitance (912.4 F g^-1 at 1 A g^-1) and superior rate capability (retention is above 50% at 100 A g^-1). Additionally, it is highly stable at 20 A g^-1 (nearly no degradation after 6000 cycles). Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations indicate that the Ni doping models present lower formation energy and better -OH group adsorption properties. Moreover, the density of electronic state (DOS) and differential charge density distribution demonstrate that Ni doping effectively enhances the charge transport during the charging and discharging processes, which is beneficial to enhance the energy storage of the electrode materials. In conclusion, this work presents a strategy to design MOF-derived composite electrodes. The experimental tests and theoretical calculations explore the energy storage process and prove that the CoNiO/PCNF electrode materials have great potential for applications.

Simple synthesis of a hierarchical LiMn0.8Fe0.2PO4/C cathode by investigation of iron sources for lithium-ion batteries

Iron (Fe) substitution is an effective strategy for improving the electrochemical performance of LiMnPO4 which has poor conductivity. Herein, we focus on investigating the effect of substitution of Mn with different iron sources, on the structure and electrochemical performances of the LiMnPO4 materials. The Fe-substituted LiMnPO4/C composites were synthesized via a simple and rational solid-state method, and will be of benefit for engineering applications. The characterization of the materials shows an obvious influence of the iron sources on structure and morphology. The N-LMFP material prepared using soluble FeNO3 as iron sources exhibits an excellent rate capacity of 122 mA h g-1 at 5C, and superior cyclability with a capacity retention of 98.9% after 400 cycles at 2C. The enhanced rate capability and cycling stability of N-LMFP are the result of the lowered electron/ion resistance and the improved reversibility of the reaction, that originates from the homogeneous fine particles and hierarchical structure with large mesopores. This research provides significant guidelines for designing an LiMnPO4 cathode with a high performance.

Flexible SnTe/carbon nanofiber membrane as a free-standing anode for high-performance lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries

Flexible electrode plays a key role in flexible energy storage devices. The SnTe/C nanofibers membrane (SnTe/CNFM) with excellent mechanical flexibility has been successfully synthesized for the first time through electrospinning, and it demonstrates outstanding electrochemical performance as free-standing anode for lithium/sodium-ion batteries. The SnTe/CNFM electrode delivers a discharge capacity of 526.7 mAh g^-1 at 1000 mA g^-1 after 1000 cycles in lithium-ion half-cells and a discharge capacity of 236.5 mAh g^-1 at 500 mA g^-1 after 80 cycles in lithium-ion full-cells with a LiFePO₄ cathode. Not only that, it shows a discharge capacity of 182.7 mAh g^-1 at 200 mA g^-1 after 200 cycles in sodium-ion half-cells and a high discharge capacity of 207.0 mAh g^-1 at 500 mA g^-1 after 50 cycles in sodium-ion full-cells with a Na_0.44MnO₂ cathode. Moreover, the prepared SnTe/CNFM exhibits good mechanical flexibility. The SnTe/CNFM can still return to its original state without any breakage after bending, curling, folding and kneading. These results indicate that SnTe/CNFM is expected to become one of the promising free-standing anodes for lithium/sodium-ion batteries.

Application of Electrospun Nanofibers for Fabrication of Versatile and Highly Efficient Electrochemical Devices: A Review

Electrochemical devices convert chemical reactions into electrical energy or, vice versa, electricity into a chemical reaction. While batteries, fuel cells, supercapacitors, solar cells, and sensors belong to the galvanic cells based on the first reaction, electrolytic cells are based on the reversed process and used to decompose chemical compounds by electrolysis. Especially fuel cells, using an electrochemical reaction of hydrogen with an oxidizing agent to produce electricity, and electrolytic cells, e.g., used to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, are of high interest in the ongoing search for production and storage of renewable energies. This review sheds light on recent developments in the area of electrospun electrochemical devices, new materials, techniques, and applications. Starting with a brief introduction into electrospinning, recent research dealing with electrolytic cells, batteries, fuel cells, supercapacitors, electrochemical solar cells, and electrochemical sensors is presented. The paper concentrates on the advantages of electrospun nanofiber mats for these applications which are mostly based on their high specific surface area and the possibility to tailor morphology and material properties during the spinning and post-treatment processes. It is shown that several research areas dealing with electrospun parts of electrochemical devices have already reached a broad state-of-the-art, while other research areas have large space for future investigations.

Efficient absorption of ammonia with dialkylphosphate-based ionic liquids

The influence of temperature, pressure and side chain length on the solubilities of NH3 in dialkylphosphate-based ILs was uncovered.

The electrochemical storage mechanism of an In2S3/C nanofiber anode for high-performance Li-ion and Na-ion batteries

There are only a handful of reports on indium sulfide (In2S3) in the electrochemical energy storage field without a clear electrochemical reaction mechanism. In this work, a simple electrospinning method has been used to synthesize In2S3/C nanofibers for the first time. In lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), the In2S3/C nanofiber electrode can not only deliver a high initial reversible specific capacity of 696.4 mA h g-1 at 50 mA g-1, but also shows ultra-long cycle life with a capacity retention of 80.5% after 600 cycles at 1000 mA g-1. In sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), the In2S3/C nanofibers electrode can exhibit a high initial reversible specific capacity (393.7 mA h g-1 at 50 mA g-1) and excellent cycling performance with a high capacity retention of 97.3% after 300 cycles at 1000 mA g-1. The excellent electrochemical properties mainly benefited from In2S3 being encapsulated by a carbon matrix, which buffers the volume expansion and significantly improves the conductivity of the composite. Furthermore, the structural evolution of In2S3 during the first lithiation/delithiation and sodiation/desodiation processes has been illustrated by ex situ XRD. The results confirm that the reaction mechanism of In2S3 in both LIBs and SIBs can be summarized as conversion reactions and alloying reactions, which provide theoretical support for the development of In2S3 in the field of electrochemistry.