Atomic Layer Deposition Alumina-Passivated Silicon Nanowires: Probing the Transition from Electrochemical Double-Layer Capacitor to Electrolytic Capacitor

Achieving high quantum capacitance graphdiyne through doping and adsorption

In recent years, a new two-dimensional carbon material, graphdiyne (GDY), has attracted extensive attention in the field of energy storage, due to its unique topological and electronic structures, high charge mobility, and excellent electron transport properties. However, the disappearance of the density of states near the Fermi level leads to a low quantum capacitance (C_Q) of pristine GDY, which limits its application in supercapacitors. Here, we propose doping and metal atom adsorption to be efficient ways to increase the C_Q of GDY. Based on first-principles density functional theory, the effects of doping B, N, P, and S atoms and adsorbing Au, Ag, Cu, Ti, and Al atoms on the C_Q of GDY are systematically investigated. The results show that the C_Q of GDY can be significantly improved by introducing doping/adsorption, which could be a potential cathode material and anode material for supercapacitors. Our work provides an effective way for GDY to be applied as an efficient electrode material for supercapacitors.

First-Principles Density Functional Theory Study of Modified Germanene-Based Electrode Materials

Germanene, with a wrinkled atomic layer structure and high specific surface area, showed high potential as an electrode material for supercapacitors. According to the first-principles calculation based on Density Functional Theory, the quantum capacitance of germanene could be significantly improved by introducing doping/co-doping, vacancy defects and multilayered structures. The quantum capacitance obtained enhancement as a result of the generation of localized states near the Dirac point and/or the movement of the Fermi level induced by doping and/or defects. In addition, it was found that the quantum capacitance enhanced monotonically with the increase of the defect concentration.

New development of atomic layer deposition: processes, methods and applications

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is an ultra-thin film deposition technique that has found many applications owing to its distinct abilities. They include uniform deposition of conformal films with controllable thickness, even on complex three-dimensional surfaces, and can improve the efficiency of electronic devices. This technology has attracted significant interest both for fundamental understanding how the new functional materials can be synthesized by ALD and for numerous practical applications, particularly in advanced nanopatterning for microelectronics, energy storage systems, desalinations, catalysis and medical fields. This review introduces the progress made in ALD, both for computational and experimental methodologies, and provides an outlook of this emerging technology in comparison with other film deposition methods. It discusses experimental approaches and factors that affect the deposition and presents simulation methods, such as molecular dynamics and computational fluid dynamics, which help determine and predict effective ways to optimize ALD processes, hence enabling the reduction in cost, energy waste and adverse environmental impacts. Specific examples are chosen to illustrate the progress in ALD processes and applications that showed a considerable impact on other technologies.

Ionic Liquid-Based Electrolytes for Supercapacitor and Supercapattery

There is a strong desire to replace or complement aqueous and organic electrolytes by ionic liquids (ILs) in electrochemical energy storage (EES) devices to achieve high operating voltages and hence high energy capacity. ILs are regarded as the inherent and competitive electrolytes since they were introduced to the electrochemical research community because they can overcome many disadvantages of the conventional aqueous and organic electrolytes, such as narrow potential windows, volatility, and flammability. This paper reviews critically the recent literatures of IL-based electrolytes used in supercapacitor, supercapattery, and micro-supercapacitor. Supercapattery is a generic term for various hybrid devices combining the merits of rechargeable battery and supercapacitor and often shows capacitive behavior. Fundamentals of supercapattery are briefly explained with typical examples. Micro-supercapacitor falls in the same scope of supercapacitor and supercapattery and shares the same fundamental concerns besides topology or structure. The future of IL-based electrolytes for the capacitive EES devices are also prospected.

Adsorption of metal atoms on silicene: stability and quantum capacitance of silicene-based electrode materials

Metal-doping with the formation of a metal–vacancy complex results in an obvious increase of silicene's quantum capacitance.

A Water Dissolvable Electrolyte with an Ionic Liquid for Eco-Friendly Electronics

A water-dissolvable electrolyte is developed by combining an ionic liquid (IL) with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), which decays over time by contact with water. An IL generally consists of two species of ions (anion and cation), and forms an electrical double layer (EDL) of a large electrostatic capacitance due to the ions accumulated in the vicinity of a conductive electrode when voltage is applied. In a similar manner, the ionic gel developed in this work forms an EDL due to the ions suspended in the conjugated polymer network while maintaining the gel form. Test measurements show a large capacitance of 13 µF cm^-2 within the potential window of the IL. The ionic gel shows an electrical conductance of 20 µS cm^-1 due to the ionic conduction, which depends on the weight ratio of the IL with respect to the polymer. The developed ionic gel dissolves into water in 16 h. Potential application includes the electrolyte in disposable electronics such as distributed sensors and energy harvesters that are supposed to be harmless to environment.

High-performance solid state supercapacitors assembling graphene interconnected networks in porous silicon electrode by electrochemical methods using 2,6-dihydroxynaphthalen

The challenge for conformal modification of the ultra-high internal surface of nanoporous silicon was tackled by electrochemical polymerisation of 2,6-dihydroxynaphthalene using cyclic voltammetry or potentiometry and, notably, after the thermal treatment (800 °C, N₂, 4 h) an assembly of interconnected networks of graphene strongly adhering to nanoporous silicon matrix resulted. Herein we demonstrate the achievement of an easy scalable technology for solid state supercapacitors on silicon, with excellent electrochemical properties. Accordingly, our symmetric supercapacitors (SSC) showed remarkable performance characteristics, comparable to many of the best high-power and/or high-energy carbon-based supercapacitors, their figures of merit matching under battery-like supercapacitor behaviour. Furthermore, the devices displayed high specific capacity values along with enhanced capacity retention even at ultra-high rates for voltage sweep, 5 V/s, or discharge current density, 100 A/g, respectively. The cycling stability tests performed at relatively high discharge current density of 10 A/g indicated good capacity retention, with a superior performance demonstrated for the electrodes obtained under cyclic voltammetry approach, which may be ascribed on the one hand to a better coverage of the porous silicon substrate and, on the other hand, to an improved resilience of the hybrid electrode to pore clogging.

Nanostructured mesophase electrode materials: modulating charge-storage behavior by thermal treatment

3D nanostructured carbonaceous electrode materials with tunable capacitive phases were successfully developed using graphene/particulate polypyrrole (PPy) nanohybrid (GPNH) precursors without a separate process for incorporating heterogeneous species. The electrode material, namely carbonized GPNHs (CGPNHs) featured a mesophase capacitance consisting of both electric double-layer (EDL) capacitive and pseudocapacitive elements at the molecular level. The ratio of EDL capacitive element to pseudocapacitive element (E-to-P) in the mesophase electrode materials was controlled by varying the PPy-to-graphite weight (P_w/G_w) ratio and by heat treatment (T_H), which was demonstrated by characterizing the CGPNHs with elemental analysis, cyclic voltammetry, and a charge/discharge test. The concept of the E-to-P ratio (EPR) index was first proposed to easily identify the capacitive characteristics of the mesophase electrode using a numerical algorithm, which was reasonably consistent with the experimental findings. Finally, the CGPNHs were integrated into symmetric two-electrode capacitor cells, which rendered excellent energy and power densities in both aqueous and ionic liquid electrolytes. It is anticipated that our approach could be widely extended to fabricating versatile hybrid electrode materials with estimation of their capacitive characteristics.

Metal Nanowire-Based Hybrid Electrodes Exhibiting High Charge/Discharge Rates and Long-Lived Electrocatalysis

Nanostructured electrodes are at the forefront of advanced materials research, and have been studied extensively in the context of their potential applications in energy storage and conversion. Here, we report on the properties of core-shell (gold-polypyrrole) hybrid nanowires and their suitability as electrodes in electrochemical capacitors and as electrocatalysts. In general, the specific capacitance of electrochemical capacitors can be increased by faradaic reactions, but their charge transfer resistance impedes charge transport, decreasing the capacitance with increasing charge/discharge rate. The specific capacitance of the hybrid electrodes is enhanced due to the pseudocapacitance of the polypyrrole shells; moreover, the electrodes operate as an ideal capacitive element and maintain their specific capacitance even at fast charge/discharge rates of 4690 mA/cm³ and 10 V/s. These rates far exceed those of other types of pseudocapacitors, and are even superior to electric double layer-based supercapacitors. The mechanisms behind these fast charge/discharge rates are elucidated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and are ascribed to the reduced internal resistance associated with the fast charge transport ability of the gold nanowire cores, low ionic resistance of the polypyrrole shells, and enhanced electron transport across the nanowire's junctions. Furthermore, the hybrid electrodes show great catalytic activity for ethanol electro-oxidation, comparable to bare gold nanowires, and the surface activity of gold cores is not affected by the polypyrrole coating. The electrodes exhibit improved stability for electrocatalysis during potential cycling. This study demonstrates that the gold-polypyrrole hybrid electrodes can store and deliver charge at fast rates, and that the polypyrrole shells of the nanowires extend the catalytic lifetime of the gold cores.