Improving the Performance of Zn-Air Batteries with N-Doped Electroexfoliated Graphene

Biomass-Derived Carbon Materials for the Electrode of Metal-Air Batteries

Facing the challenges of energy crisis and global warming, the development of renewable energy has received more and more attention. To offset the discontinuity of renewable energy, such as wind and solar energy, it is urgent to search for an excellent performance energy storage system to match them. Metal-air batteries (typical representative: Li-air battery and Zn-air battery) have broad prospects in the field of energy storage due to their high specific capacity and environmental friendliness. The drawbacks preventing the massive application of metal-air batteries are the poor reaction kinetics and high overpotential during the charging-discharging process, which can be alleviated by the application of an electrochemical catalyst and porous cathode. Biomass, also, as a renewable resource, plays a critical role in the preparation of carbon-based catalysts and porous cathode with excellent performance for metal-air batteries due to the inherent rich heteroatom and pore structure of biomass. In this paper, we have reviewed the latest progress in the creative preparation of porous cathode for the Li-air battery and Zn-air battery from biomass and summarized the effects of various biomass sources precursors on the composition, morphology and structure-activity relationship of cathode. This review will help us understand the relevant applications of biomass carbon in the field of metal-air batteries.

Successful Manufacturing Protocols of N-Rich Carbon Electrodes Ensuring High ORR Activity: A Review

The exploration and development of different carbon nanomaterials happening over the past years have established carbon electrodes as an important electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction. Metal-free catalysts are especially promising potential alternatives for replacing Pt-based catalysts. This article describes recent advances and challenges in the three main synthesis manners (i.e., pyrolysis, hydrothermal method, and chemical vapor deposition) as effective methods for the production of metal-free carbon-based catalysts. To improve the catalytic activity, heteroatom doping the structure of graphene, carbon nanotubes, porous carbons, and carbon nanofibers is important and makes them a prospective candidate for commercial applications. Special attention is paid to providing an overview on the recent major works about nitrogen-doped carbon electrodes with various concentrations and chemical environments of the heteroatom active sites. A detailed discussion and summary of catalytic properties in aqueous electrolytes is given for graphene and porous carbon-based catalysts in particular, including recent studies performed in the authors’ research group. Finally, we discuss pathways and development opportunities approaching the practical use of mainly graphene-based catalysts for metal–air batteries and fuel cells.

A fast and high-efficiency electrochemical exfoliation strategy towards antimonene/carbon composites for selective lubrication and sodium-ion storage applications

Two-dimensional (2D) layered antimony (Sb) materials are of importance due to their unique physicochemical properties, and they can be easily electrochemically exfoliated from bulk Sb in Na₂SO₄ electrolyte solution. However, the exfoliation yield is quite low and the exfoliated products are easily oxidized to Sb₂O₃, which prohibits their practical engineering applications. Herein, an antimonene/carbon composite is successfully fabricated with a high exfoliation yield through electrochemical exfoliation of bulk antimony chunk in a mixed electrolyte solution consisting of Na₂SO₄ and ethylene glycol. When the as-fabricated antimonene/carbon composite is added into PAO6 oil, the lubrication system exhibits a selective lubrication performance when sliding against GCr15 and YG8 ball, and the antiwear enhancement can be further improved by sliding against a YG8 ball. Besides, the antimonene/carbon composite can provide reliability and enough ion corridors during the charge/discharge processes. When tested as an anodic material for sodium-ion batteries, it exhibits a large capacity of 485.0 mA h g^-1 at a current density of 200 mA g^-1 after 150 cycles and a remarkable rate capability (334.5 mA h g^-1 at 5 A g^-1).

High surface area micro-mesoporous graphene for electrochemical applications

The manuscript presents results on the influence of external pressure on graphene exfoliation and subsequent 3D structuring by means of liquid-phase exfoliation. In contrast to known and applied exfoliation methods, the current study exploits the enhancement of splitting forces caused by the application of high pressure. The manufacturing pathway allowed to increase the surface area from 750 m2/g (nanoplatelets) to ca. 1100 m2/g (after 3D structuring). Electrochemical studies revealed that the 3D graphene materials were active in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The outstanding ORR activity of 3D structured graphene materials should not be ascribed to heteroatom catalytic centers since such heteroatoms were successively removed upon increasing the carbonization temperature. XPS data showed that the presence of transition metals and nitrogen (usually regarded as catalytic centers) in G-materials was marginal. The results highlight the importance of structural factors of electrodes in the case of graphene-based materials for Zn-air batteries and ORR.

The Importance of Structural Factors for the Electrochemical Performance of Graphene/Carbon Nanotube/Melamine Powders towards the Catalytic Activity of Oxygen Reduction Reaction

In this paper, we show the carbonization of binary composites consisting of graphene nanoplatelets and melamine (GNP/MM), multi-walled carbon nanotubes and melamine (CNT/MM) and trinary composites containing GNP, CNT, and MM. Additionally, the manuscript presents results on the influence of structural factors for the electrochemical performance of carbon composites on their catalytic activity. This study contributes to the wide search and design of novel hybrid carbon composites for electrochemical applications. We demonstrate that intensive nitrogen atom insertion is not the governing factor since hybrid system modifications and porous structure sometimes play a more crucial role in the tailoring of electrochemical properties of the carbon hybrids seen as a noble metal-free alternative to traditional electrode materials. Additionally, HRTEM and Raman spectra study allowed for the evaluation of the quality of the obtained hybrid materials.

Highly Effective Methods of Obtaining N-Doped Graphene by Gamma Irradiation

The design and fabrication of a new effective manufacturing method of heteroatom-doped carbon materials is still ongoing. In this paper, we present alternative and facile methods to obtain N-rich graphene with the use of low energy gamma radiation. This method was used as a pure and facile method for altering the physical and chemical properties of graphene. The obtained materials have an exceptionally high N content-up to 4 wt %. (dry method) and up to 2 wt %. (wet method). High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectra and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies allowed us to evaluate the quality of the obtained materials. The presented results will provide new insights in designing and optimizing N-doped carbon materials potentially for the development of anode or cathode materials for electrochemical device applications, especially supercapacitors, metal-air batteries and fuel cells. Nitrogen atoms are exclusively bonded as quaternary groups. The method is expandable to the chemical insertion of other heteroatoms to graphene, especially such as sulfur, boron or phosphorus.

Catalytic Evaluation of Nanoflower Structured Manganese Oxide Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Reduction in Alkaline Media

An electrochemical nanoflowers manganese oxide (MnO2) catalyst has gained much interest due to its high stability and high specific surface area. However, there are a lack of insightful studies of electrocatalyst performance in nanoflower MnO2. This study assesses the electrocatalytic performances of nanoflower structure MnO2 for both oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in a zinc–air battery as a bifunctional electrocatalyst. The prepared catalyst was characterized in term of morphology, crystallinity, and total surface area. Cyclic voltammetry and linear sweep voltammetry were used to evaluate the electrochemical behaviors of the as-prepared nanoflower-like MnO2. The discharge performance test for zinc–air battery with a MnO2 catalyst was also conducted. The results show that the MnO2 prepared at dwell times of 2, 4 and 6 h were nanoflowers, nanoflower mixed with nanowires, and nanowires with corresponding specific surface areas of 52.4, 34.9 and 32.4 g/cm2, respectively. The nanoflower-like MnO2 catalyst exhibits a better electrocatalytic performance towards both ORR and OER compared to the nanowires. The number of electrons transferred for the MnO2 with nanoflower, nanoflower mixed with nanowires, and nanowire structures is 3.68, 3.31 and 3.00, respectively. The as-prepared MnO2 nanoflower-like structure exhibits the best discharge performance of 31% higher than the nanowires and reaches up to 30% of the theoretical discharge capacity of the zinc–air battery.