Hierarchical nanoporosity enhanced reversible capacity of bicontinuous nanoporous metal based Li-O2 battery

Elastic microphase separation produces robust bicontinuous materials

Bicontinuous microstructures are essential to the function of diverse natural and synthetic systems. Their synthesis has been based on two approaches: arrested phase separation or self-assembly of block copolymers. The former is attractive for its chemical simplicity and the latter, for its thermodynamic robustness. Here we introduce elastic microphase separation (EMPS) as an alternative approach to make bicontinuous microstructures. Conceptually, EMPS balances the molecular-scale forces that drive demixing with large-scale elasticity to encode a thermodynamic length scale. This process features a continuous phase transition, reversible without hysteresis. Practically, EMPS is triggered by simply supersaturating an elastomeric matrix with a liquid, resulting in uniform bicontinuous materials with a well-defined microscopic length scale tuned by the matrix stiffness. The versatility of EMPS is further demonstrated by fabricating bicontinuous materials with superior mechanical properties and controlled anisotropy and microstructural gradients. Overall, EMPS presents a robust alternative for the bulk fabrication of homogeneous bicontinuous materials.

Nanoporous Gold: From Structure Evolution to Functional Properties in Catalysis and Electrochemistry

Nanoporous gold (NPG) is characterized by a bicontinuous network of nanometer-sized metallic struts and interconnected pores formed spontaneously by oxidative dissolution of the less noble element from gold alloys. The resulting material exhibits decent catalytic activity for low-temperature, aerobic total as well as partial oxidation reactions, the oxidative coupling of methanol to methyl formate being the prototypical example. This review not only provides a critical discussion of ways to tune the morphology and composition of this material and its implication for catalysis and electrocatalysis, but will also exemplarily review the current mechanistic understanding of the partial oxidation of methanol using information from quantum chemical studies, model studies on single-crystal surfaces, gas phase catalysis, aerobic liquid phase oxidation, and electrocatalysis. In this respect, a particular focus will be on mechanistic aspects not well understood, yet. Apart from the mechanistic aspects of catalysis, best practice examples with respect to material preparation and characterization will be discussed. These can improve the reproducibility of the materials property such as the catalytic activity and selectivity as well as the scope of reactions being identified as the main challenges for a broader application of NPG in target-oriented organic synthesis.

Interfacial Engineering of Co3 O4 /Fe2 O3 Nano-Heterostructure Toward Superior Li-O2 Batteries

A major issue with Li-O₂ batteries is their slow oxygen reduction and evolution kinetics, necessitating catalysts with high catalytic activity to improve reaction kinetics and cycle stability. Herein, a nano-heterostructured catalyst composed of Co₃ O₄ and Fe₂ O₃ (Co₃ O₄ /Fe₂ O₃ ) with a porous rod morphology is achieved through an interfacial engineering strategy by constructing Fe₂ O₃ on the Co₃ O₄ surface, which can function as a high-performance cathode in order to efficiently encourage the oxygen reduction and evolution while also reduce the battery polarization during charging and discharging. The density functional theory (DFT) calculations show the differences in charge density at the interface of nano-heterostructures, demonstrating the occurrence of an electron transfer process in the interface region of Co₃ O₄ and Fe₂ O₃ , implying a strong electronic coupling transfer, and in turn changing the electronic structure of the Co₃ O₄ . This significantly reduces the adsorption energy of LiO₂ intermediates, thereby effectively lowering the overpotential. The resultant Li-O₂ battery has larger discharge specific capacity, lower overpotential for the efficient oxygen evolution/reduction, as well as good cycling stability of 280 cycles. This work demonstrates an effective method to fabricate the nano-heterostrucutred materials with enhanced catalytic efficiency for advanced energy applications.

Hierarchical Design in Nanoporous Metals

Hierarchically porous metals possess intriguing high accessibility of matter molecules and unique continuous metallic frameworks, as well as a high level of exposed active atoms. High rates of diffusion and fast energy transfer have been important and challenging goals of hierarchical design and porosity control with nanostructured metals. This review aims to summarize recent important progress toward the development of hierarchically porous metals, with special emphasis on synthetic strategies, hierarchical design in structure-function and corresponding applications. The current challenges and future prospects in this field are also discussed.

Towards tuning the modality of hierarchical macro-nanoporous metals by controlling the dealloying kinetics of close-to-eutectic alloys

Largely inspired by nature, hierarchical porous materials are attractive for a wide range of applications as they provide a unique combination of transport and interfacial properties. Hierarchical macro-nanoporous metals (HMNPM) are of particular interest due to their high thermal and electrical conductivities, high volumetric macroporosity as well as their strong capillary forces, and large surface area due to their nanopores. However, tuning the porosity of HMNPMs remains challenging and often requires complex multi-step synthesis methods. Here we demonstrate that controlling the dealloying kinetics of close-to-eutectic alloys allows the selective tuning of the porosity of a hierarchical metal from tens of nanometers to hundreds of micrometers. This was demonstrated by dealloying the Cu-Mg-Zn alloy of close-to-eutectic composition to develop trimodal hierarchical macro-nanoporous copper with an impressive porosity of 94 vol% in the form of macroscopic self-supporting bulk samples. A combination of dealloying experiments and density functional theory calculations indicate that while selective corrosion of chemical phases in the Cu-Mg-Zn alloy is triggered according to their Volta potential, the kinetics can be altered by confinement and non-homogeneity effects. The obtained insights into the kinetics of close-to-eutectic alloy dealloying can be used to develop other hierarchical porous metals with tunable porosity and controlled shape.

Nanoporous Gold for Energy Applications

Research activities using nanoporous gold (NPG) were reviewed in the field of energy applications in three categories: fuel cells, supercapacitors, and batteries. First, applications to fuel cells are reviewed with the subsections of proof-of-concept studies, studies on fuel oxidations at anode, and studies on oxygen reduction reactions at cathode. Second, applications to supercapacitors are reviewed from research activities on active materials/NPG composites to demonstrations of all-solid-state flexible supercapacitors using NPG electrodes. Third, research activities using NPG for battery applications are reviewed, mainly about fundamental studies on Li-air and Na-air batteries and some model studies on improving Li ion battery anodes. Although NPG based studies are the main subject of this review, some of meaningful studies using nanoporous metals are also discussed where relevant. Finally, summary and future outlook are given based on the survey on the research activities.

Synergetic Effect of Liquid and Solid Catalysts on the Energy Efficiency of Li-O2 Batteries: Cell Performances and Operando STEM Observations

The sluggish cathodic kinetics and lower energy efficiency, associated with solid and insulating discharge products of Li₂O₂, are the key factors that prevent the practical implementation of Li-O₂ batteries (LOBs). Here we demonstrate that the combination of the solid catalyst (RuO₂) and soluble redox mediator tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) exhibits a synergetic effect in improving the cathodic kinetics and energy efficiency of LOBs by reducing both charge and discharge overpotentials. Operando electron microscopy observations and electrochemical measurements reveal that RuO₂ not only exhibits bifunctional catalysis for Li-O₂ reactions but also benefits the catalytic efficiency of TTF. Meanwhile, TTF plays an important role in activating the Li₂O₂ passivated RuO₂ catalysts and in helping RuO₂ effectively oxidize the discharge products during charging. The synergetic effect of solid and liquid catalysts, beyond traditional bifunctional catalysis, obviously increases the cathodic kinetics and round-trip energy efficiency of LOBs.

Ultralong Cycle Life Li-O2 Battery Enabled by a MOF-Derived Ruthenium-Carbon Composite Catalyst with a Durable Regenerative Surface

The cycling performance of Li-O₂ batteries (LOBs), which is an important parameter determining the practical use of this advanced energy technology with ultrahigh energy density, is strongly affected by the nature of the oxygen electrocatalyst. As a good oxygen electrode, it should possess good activity for both the oxygen evolution reaction and the oxygen reduction reaction and superior stability under operating conditions. During the past, oxygen electrodes for LOBs were generally fabricated by loading noble metal nanoparticles on the surface of a porous carbon support. However, the nanoparticles could easily lose contact with the carbon support during the reversible liquid-gas-solid reactions that involve lithium ions, oxygen gas, and Li₂O₂. Herein, we reported a novel Ru-metal-organic framework (MOF)-derived carbon composite, characterized by stereoscopic Ru nanoparticle distribution within the carbon matrix, as an alternative oxygen catalyst of LOBs, enabling superior operational stability and favorable activity. More specifically, the battery demonstrated stable charge-discharge cycling for up to 800 times (∼107 days) at a current density of 500 mA g^-1 with low discharge/charge overpotentials (∼0.2/0.7 V vs Li). A mechanism of regenerative surface was further proposed to explain the excellent cycling stability of the LOBs through the use of the Ru-MOF-C catalyst. These encouraging results imply an accessible solution to address issues related to the oxygen catalyst for the realization of practical LOBs.

Operando characterization of cathodic reactions in a liquid-state lithium-oxygen micro-battery by scanning transmission electron microscopy

Rechargeable non-aqueous lithium-oxygen batteries with a large theoretical capacity are emerging as a high-energy electrochemical device for sustainable energy strategy. Despite many efforts made to understand the fundamental Li-O2 electrochemistry, the kinetic process of cathodic reactions, associated with the formation and decomposition of a solid Li2O2 phase during charging and discharging, remains debate. Here we report direct visualization of the charge/discharge reactions on a gold cathode in a non-aqueous lithium-oxygen micro-battery using liquid-cell aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) combining with synchronized electrochemical measurements. The real-time and real-space characterization by time-resolved STEM reveals the electrochemical correspondence of discharge/charge overpotentials to the nucleation, growth and decomposition of Li2O2 at a constant current density. The nano-scale operando observations would enrich our knowledge on the underlying reaction mechanisms of lithium-oxygen batteries during round-trip discharging and charging and shed lights on the strategies in improving the performances of lithium-oxygen batteries by tailoring the cathodic reactions.

A Scalable Synthesis Pathway to Nanoporous Metal Structures

A variety of nanoporous transition metals, Fe, Co, Au, Cu, and others, have been readily formed by a scalable, room-temperature synthesis process. Metal halide compounds are reacted with organolithium reductants in a nonpolar solvent to form metal/lithium halide nanocomposites. The lithium halide is then dissolved out of the nanocomposite with a common organic solvent, leaving behind a continuous, three-dimensional network of metal filaments that form a nanoporous structure. This approach is applicable to both noble metals (Cu, Au, Ag) and less-noble transition metals (Co, Fe, Ni). The microstructures of these nanoporous transition metals are tunable, as controlling the formation of the metal structure in the nanocomposite dictates the final metal structure. Microscopy studies and nitrogen adsorption analysis show these materials form pores ranging from 2 to 50 nm with specific surface areas from 1.0 m²/g to 160 m²/g. Our analysis also shows that pore size, pore volume, and filament size of the nanoporous metal networks depend on the mobility of target metal and the amount of lithium halide produced by the conversion reaction. Further, it has been demonstrated that hybrid nanoporous structures of two or more metals could be synthesized by performing the same process on mixtures of precursor compounds. Metals (e.g., Co and Cu) have been found to stabilize each other in nanoporous forms, resulting in smaller pore sizes and higher surface areas than each element in their pure forms. This scalable and versatile synthesis pathway greatly expands our access to additional compositions and microstructures of nanoporous metals.

Functional and stability orientation synthesis of materials and structures in aprotic Li–O2batteries

This review presents the recent advances made in the functional and stability orientation synthesis of materials/structures for Li–O₂batteries.

Direct Observations of the Formation and Redox-Mediator-Assisted Decomposition of Li2 O2 in a Liquid-Cell Li-O2 Microbattery by Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy

Operando scanning transmission electron microscopy observations of cathodic reactions in a liquid-cell Li-O₂ microbattery in the presence of the redox mediator tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) in 1.0 m LiClO₄ dissolved dimethyl sulfoxide electrolyte are reported. It is found that the TTF addition does not obviously affect the discharge reaction for the formation of a solid Li₂ O₂ phase. The coarsening of Li₂ O₂ nanoparticles occurs via both conventional Ostwald ripening and nonclassical crystallization by particle attachment. During charging, the oxidation reaction at significantly reduced charge potentials mainly takes place at Li₂ O₂ /electrolyte interfaces and has obvious correspondence with the oxidized TTF⁺ distributions in the electric fields of the charged electrode. This study provides direct evidence that TTF truly plays a role in promoting the decomposition of Li₂ O₂ as a soluble charge-transfer agent between the electrode and the Li₂ O₂ .

Modified Tetrathiafulvalene as an Organic Conductor for Improving Performances of Li-O2 Batteries

Large over-potentials owing to the sluggish kinetics of battery reactions have always been the drawbacks of Li-O₂ batteries, which lead to short cycle life. Although redox mediators have been intensively investigated to overcome this issue, side-reactions are generally induced by the solvated nature of redox mediators. Herein, we report an alternative method to achieve more efficient utilization of tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) in Li-O₂ batteries. By coordinating TTF⁺ with LiCl during charging, an organic conductor TTF⁺ Cl_x^- precipitate covers Li₂ O₂ to provide an additional electron-transfer pathway on the surface, which can significantly reduce the charge over-potential, improve the energy efficiency of Li-O₂ batteries, and eliminate side-reactions between the lithium metal anode and TTF⁺ . When a porous graphene electrode is used, the Li-O₂ battery combined with TTF and LiCl shows an outstanding performance and prolonged cycle life.

Hierarchical nanoporous metals as a path toward the ultimate three-dimensional functionality

Nanoporous metals prepared via dealloying or selective leaching of solid solution alloys and compounds represent an emerging class of materials. They possess a three-dimensional (3D) structure of randomly interpenetrating ligaments/nanopores with sizes between 5 nm and several tens of micrometers, which can be tuned by varying their preparation conditions (such as dealloying time and temperature) or additional thermal coarsening. As compared to other nanostructured materials, nanoporous metals have many advantages, including their bicontinuous structure, tunable pore sizes, bulk form, good electrical conductivity, and high structural stability. Therefore, nanoporous metals represent ideal 3D materials with versatile functionality, which can be utilized in various fields. In this review, we describe the recent applications of nanoporous metals in molecular detection, catalysis, 3D graphene synthesis, hierarchical pore formation, and additive manufacturing (3D printing) together with our own achievements in these areas. Finally, we discuss possible ways of realizing the ultimate 3D functionality beyond the scope of nanoporous metals.