Bio-templated Fabrication of Highly Defective Carbon Anchored MnO Anode Materials with High Reversible Capacity

Synthesis of Diverse Green Carbon Nanomaterials through Fully Utilizing Biomass Carbon Source Assisted by KOH

With multiple properties, green carbon nanomaterials with high specific surface area have become extensively attractive as energy storage devices with environmental-friendly features. The primary synthesis attempts were based on alkalis activation, which, however, faced the dilemma of low utilization rate of carbon sources. Herein, the green carbon with ultrahigh surface area (up to 3560 m²/g) was prepared by the KOH-assisted biomass carbonization. Moreover, the redundant K₂O steam and C_xH_y flow were further utilized; as a result, the carbon materials with a wide range of morphological diversity were collected on the Cu foam. Accordingly, we carried out density functional theory simulations to reveal the mechanism of O-adatom-promoted CH₄ dissociation over the Cu surface for carbon formation. The electrodes of electrochemical capacitor fabricated by carbon synthesis possess a 170% higher specific capacitance compared with commercial carbon electrodes. As such, this strategy might be promising in developing hierarchical carbons along with sufficient carbon sources for broadening their potential applications.

Fast Preparation of Porous MnO/C Microspheres as Anode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Porous MnO/C microspheres have been successfully fabricated by a fast co-precipitation method in a T-shaped microchannel reactor. The structures, compositions, and electrochemical performances of the obtained MnO/C microspheres are characterized by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis, charge-discharge testing, cyclic voltammograms, and electrochemical impedance spectra. Experimental results reveal that the as-prepared MnO/C, with a specific surface area of 96.66 m²·g^-1 and average pore size of 24.37 nm, exhibits excellent electrochemical performance, with a discharge capacity of 655.4 mAh·g^-1 after cycling 50 times at 1 C and capacities of 808.3, 743.7, 642.6, 450.1, and 803.1 mAh·g^-1 at 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, and 0.2 C, respectively. Moreover, the controlled method of using a microchannel reactor, which can produce larger specific surface area porous MnO/C with improved cycling performance by shortening lithium-ion diffusion distances, can be easily applied in real production on a large scale.

Fabricating three-dimensional mesoporous carbon network-coated LiFePO4/Fe nanospheres using thermal conversion of alginate-biomass

Three-dimensional mesoporous carbon network-coated LiFePO₄/Fe nanospheres with high-rate capability.

Supercritical fluid assisted biotemplating synthesis of Si–O–C microspheres from microalgae for advanced Li-ion batteries

Si–O–C microspheres were synthesized from microalgaes served as biological templates and carbon sources with the assistance of supercritical CO₂ fluid. As anodic materials, Si–O–C microspheres exhibited remarkable electrochemical performance.

Application of biogenic iron phosphate for lithium-ion batteries

Biogenic iron(ii) phosphate and microbially derived lithium iron phosphate spherical microparticles consisting of nanosheets produced by iron-reducing bacteria were investigated for application in lithium-ion batteries.