Mesoporous Silicon Microspheres Produced from In Situ Magnesiothermic Reduction of Silicon Oxide for High-Performance Anode Material in Sodium-Ion Batteries

Sodium-ion batteries have been widely used in energy storage owing to its high sodium content and low cost. This study proves that mesoporous silicon microspheres (MSMs) with the homogeneously distributed mesopores ranging from 1 to 10 nm can be used as anodes of NIBs. In situ magnesiothermic reduction of silicon oxide was carried out to synthesize the MSM samples. An anode in NIBs was tested, and it was observed that the MSMs sample which was calcined at 650 °C had a good rate performance of 160 mAh g^-1 at 1000 mAg^-1 and a high reversible capacity of 390 mAh g^-1 at 100 mAg^-1 after 100 cycles. Moreover, its long-term cycling performance was 0.08 mAh g^-1 decay per cycle for 100 cycles, which was quite excellent. MSMs have high reversibility, good cycling performance, and excellent rate capability, which are related to its ultrafine particle size and mesoporous morphology.

Development of an All Solid State Battery Incorporating Graphene Oxide as Proton Conductor

Graphene oxide (GO) shows high proton conductivity (≈10-4 Scm-1), excellent mechanical stability, and electrical insulation property, which makes it an ideal candidate for use as a proton conducting solid state electrolyte. The prospects of using GO as single phase solid electrolyte in an all solid battery is presented herein. A battery with the cell configuration: Zn + ZnSO4•7H2O + graphite (anode) || GO (electrolyte) || MnO2 + graphite (cathode) is fabricated. Cyclic voltammetry confirms its rechargeable nature. The respective discharge capacity and power density of the cell are 360 μAh and 19.5 mW kg-1 at a constant current drain of 3 μA under the experimental conditions employed. GO based proton conductors are cleaner and cheaper than other solid electrolytes. The current study strongly suggests that GO can be used as a practical and beneficial component in solid state battery applications with low energy feedback.