Bi2S3 nanorods encapsulated in iodine-doped graphene frameworks with enhanced potassium storage properties

Bismuth sulfide （Bi₂S₃） is a promising anode material for high-performance potassium ion batteries due to its high theoretical capacity.However,the poor conductivity and substantial volume expansion hinder its practical application.We proposed an iodine-doped graphene encapsulated Bi₂S₃nanorods composite（Bi₂S₃/IG） as an efficient anode for PIBs.The uniform-sized Bi₂S₃nanorods evenly in-situ encapsulated in io...     

Mesoporous carbon nanosheet-assembled flowers towards superior potassium storage

Potassium-ion batteries(PIBs) are attracted tremendous interest for large-scale energy storage systems(ESSs) owing to their economic merits.However,the main challenges of the PIBs are sluggish K-ion diffusion and large volume variations in the potassium repeated intercalation/deintercalation.Herein,mesoporous carbon nanosheet-assembled flowers(abbreviated as F-C) are designed as an original anode for superior-performance PIBs.Specifically,the F-C anode exhibits a high K-storage capacity(e.g.,381 mAh/g at 50 mA/g during the 2~(nd) cycle),excellent rate performance(e.g.,101 mAh/g at 2.0 A/g) and superior long cycle capability.Such excellent K-ion storage property is largely benefited from the large surface area(～141 m~2/g) and reasonable pore volume(0.465 cm~3/g),which not only stimulates rapid Kions diffusion and relieves the huge volume strain,but also exposes extensive active sites for K-ion capacitive storage.     

Soft carbon-coated bulk graphite for improved potassium ion storage

Potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) have attracted tremendous attention for large-scale energy storage fields based on abundant potassium resources. Graphite is a promising anode material for PIBs due to its low potassium ion intercalation voltage and mature industrialized preparation technology. However, the inability of graphitic structures to endure large volume change during charge/discharge cycles is a major limitation in their advancement for practical PIBs. Herein, a soft carbon-coated bulk graphite composite is synthesized using PTCDA as a carbon precursor. The PTCDA-derived soft carbon coating layer with large interlayer distance facilities fast potassium ion intercalation/extraction in the BG@C composite and buffers severe volume change during the charge/discharge cycles. When tested as anode for PIBs, the composite realizes enhanced rate capability (131.3 mAh/g at 2 C, 1 C = 279 mA/g) and cycling performance (capacity retention of 76.1% after 150 cycles at 0.5 C). In general, the surface modification route to engineer graphite anode could inherently improve the electrochemical performance without any structural alteration.     

Constructing oxygen-deficient V2O3@C nanospheres for high performance potassium ion batteries

Potassium ion batteries (PIBs) have been regarded as promising alternatives to lithium ion batteries (LIBs) on account of their abundant resource and low cost in large scale energy storage applications. However, it still remains great challenges to explore suitable electrode materials that can reversibly accommodate large size of potassium ions. Here, we construct oxygen-deficient V₂O₃ nanoparticles encapsulated in amorphous carbon shell (O_d-V₂O₃@C) as anode materials for PIBs by subtly combining the strategies of morphology and deficiency engineering. The MOF derived nanostructure along with uniform carbon coating layer can not only enables fast K⁺ migration and charge transfer kinetics, but also accommodate volume change and maintain structural stability. Besides, the introduction of oxygen deficiency intrinsically tunes the electronic structure of materials according to DFT calculation, and thus lead to improved electrochemical performance. When utilized as anode for PIBs, O_d-V₂O₃@C electrode exhibits superior rate capability (reversible capacities of 262.8, 227.8, 201.5, 179.8, 156.9 mAh/g at 100, 200, 500, 1000 and 2000 mA/g, respectively), and ultralong cycle life (127.4 mAh/g after 1000 cycles at 2 A/g). This study demonstrates a feasible way to realize high performance PIBs through morphology and deficiency engineering.     

SbVO_4 based high capacity potassium anode: a combination of conversion and alloying reactions

As the key to optimizing potassium ion batteries’(PIBs)performance,the development of high capacity potassium anode is the footstone.Here,through a one-step solvothermal method,uniformly dispersed SbVO4 nanoparticles on the reduced graphene oxide nanosheets(SbVO4@RGO)were synthesized and used as PIBs anodes.SbVO4@RGO anode shows high capacity due to alloying and conversion reactions occur simultaneously in the cyclic process.The anode delivers a capacity as high as 447.9 mAh g^-1 at 100 mA g^-1.Besides,a cycling life of 500 cycles with small average capacity decay rate(only 0.106%per cycle)is also revealed.It was found in the initial discharge process,SbVO4 transforms into Sb and K3VO4.And in the following cycle Sb and K3VO4 simultaneously react with K+via the alloying/de-alloying and conversion reaction,respectively.The present study of SbVO4@RGO may provide insight for high performance alloying-based/conversion-based potassium anodes.     

Controlled synthesis of ZnS quantum dots and ZnS quantum flakes with graphene as a template

Novel ZnS quantum dots (QDs) and ZnS quantum flakes (QFs) were successfully prepared with graphene nanosheets (GNs) as a special template, and two unique heterostructures of ZnS/GNs were also obtained. Due to the structure-directing template effect of GNs, the as-synthesized ZnS with different morphologies, dots or flakes, were uniformly distributed on the surface of GNs by controlling nucleation and growth. The two different heterostructures of ZnS/GNs exhibited obvious photovoltaic response, and ZnS/GN QFs-on-sheet heterostructures show higher photovoltage than that of ZnS/GN QDs-on-sheet.     

B-incorporated,N-doped hierarchically porous carbon nanosheets as anodes for boosted potassium storage capability

Carbonaceous nanomaterials with porous structure have become the highly promising anode materials for potassium-ion batteries(PIBs) due to their abundant resources, low-cost, and excellent conductivity. Nevertheless, the sluggish reaction kinetics and inferior cycling life caused by the large radius of K ions severely restrict their commercial development. Herein, B,N co-doped hierarchically porous carbon nanosheets(BNPC) are achieved via a facile template-assisted route, followed by a simple on...     

Interconnected MnCO3 nanostructures anchored on carbon fibers with enhanced potassium storage performance

Potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) have gained considerable attention in the past decade because of the rich potassium reserves in our planet. However, the development of anode materials is still a major challenge because of the hard reaction kinetics and poor cycling stability in the insertion/extraction process. Herein, we report interconnected MnCO₃ nanostructures anchored on carbon fibers (MnCO₃/CF) composites as anode for PIBs. The MnCO₃/CF can be directly used as anode on PIBs, avoiding the addition of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) binders and the complicated slurry coating onto copper process. The nanosized MnCO₃ nanostructures are interconnected with each other, which can provide short ions diffusion length during the charge/discharge process. The MnCO₃ nanostructures are firmly anchored on the surface of CF through C–Mn bonds, ensuring cycling stability. Also, the CF with good electronic conductivity guarantees fast electrons transportation in MnCO₃/CF system. Benefiting from the advantageous features mentioned earlier, the MnCO₃/CF anode behaves enhanced potassium storage performance compared with that of pure MnCO₃ anode. The MnCO₃/CF anode delivers a high capacity of 462 mAh/g at 50 mA/g after 100 cycles, whereas the capacity of pure MnCO₃ anode is only 134 mAh/g at 50 mA/g after 80 cycles. This work demonstrates the prospect of metal carbonate as anode materials for PIBs and provides a useful strategy to design advanced anode materials for PIBs.     

Facile Synthesis of Ultra-Small Few-Layer Nanostructured MoSe2 Embedded on N,P Co-Doped Bio-Carbon for High-Performance Half/Full Sodium-Ion and Potassium-Ion Batteries

Sodium/potassium-ion batteries (SIBs/PIBs) arouse intensive interest on account of the natural abundance of sodium/potassium resources, the competitive cost and appropriate redox potential. Nevertheless, the huge challenge for SIBs/PIBs lies in the scarcity of an anode material with high capacity and stable structure, which are capable of accommodating large-size ions during cycling. Furthermore, using sustainable natural biomass to fabricate electrodes for energy storage applications is a hot topic. Herein, an ultra-small few-layer nanostructured MoSe₂ embedded on N, P co-doped bio-carbon is reported, which is synthesized by using chlorella as the adsorbent and precursor. As a consequence, the MoSe₂/NP-C-2 composite represents exceedingly impressive electrochemical performance for both sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) and potassium-ion batteries (PIBs). It displays a promising reversible capacity (523 mAh g⁻¹ at 100 mA g⁻¹ after 100 cycles) and impressive long-term cycling performance (192 mAh g⁻¹ at 5 A g⁻¹ even after 1000 cycles) in SIBs, which are some of the best properties of MoSe₂-based anode materials for SIBs to date. To further probe the great potential applications, full SIBs pairing the MoSe₂/NP-C-2 composite anode with a Na₃V₂(PO₄)₃ cathode also exhibits a satisfactory capacity of 215 mAh g⁻¹ at 500 mA g⁻¹ after 100 cycles. Moreover, it also delivers a decent reversible capacity of 131 mAh g⁻¹ at 1 A g⁻¹ even after 250 cycles for PIBs.     

Porous surfur-doped hard carbon for excellent potassium storage

Hard carbon is promising anode for potassium-ion batteries(PIBs),however,the poor rate capability hinders its development as potential anode.To address this question,we design a sulfur-doped porous hard carbon(S-HC)for PIBs through the combination of structural design and composition adjustment.The as-designed S-HC exhibits a long cycling life with^191 mAh/g after 300 cycles at 1 A/g,and an excellent rate capability with^100 mAh/g at 5 A/g,which was attributed to its structural characteristics and compositions.The S-HC demonstrates to be promising anode in the future.     

Construction of CoS_2 nanoparticles embedded in well-structured carbon nanocubes for high-performance potassium-ion half/full batteries

Metal sulfides have been widely investigated as promising electrode materials for potassium-ion batteries(PIBs) due to their high theoretical capacities.However,the practical application of metal sulfides in PIBs is still hindered by their intrinsic shortcomings of low conductivity and severe volume changes during the potassiation/depotassiation process.Herein,a simple template-based two-step annealing strategy is proposed to impregnate CoS_2 nanoparticles in the well-structured carbon nanocubes(denoted CoS_2/CNCs) as an advanced anode material for PIBs.The ex-situ XRD measurements reveal the K storage mechanism in CoS_2/CNCs.Benefiting from the unique structures,including abundant active interfacial sites,high electronic conductivity,and significantly alleviated volume variation,CoS_2/CNCs present a high specific capacity(537.3 mAh g~(-1) at0.1 A g~(-1)),good cycling stability(322.4 mAh g~(-1) at 0.5 A g~(-1) after 300 cycles),and excellent rate capability(153.1 mAh g~(-1) at5 A g~(-1)).Moreover,the obtained nanocomposite shows superior potassium storage properties in K-ion full cells when it is coupled with a KVP04 F cathode.     

Enabling Superior Electrochemical Properties for Highly Efficient Potassium Storage by Impregnating Ultrafine Sb Nanocrystals within Nanochannel‐Containing Carbon Nanofibers

Sb‐based nanocomposites are attractive anode materials for batteries as they exhibit large theoretical capacity and impressive working voltage. However, tardy potassium ion diffusion characteristics, unstable Sb/electrolyte interphase, and huge volume variation pose a challenge, hindering their practical use for potassium‐ion batteries (PIBs). Now, a simple robust strategy is presented for uniformly impregnating ultrasmall Sb nanocrystals within carbon nanofibers containing an array of hollow nanochannels (denoted u‐Sb@CNFs), resolving the issues above and yielding high‐performance PIBs. u‐Sb@CNFs can be directly employed as an anode, thereby dispensing with the need for conductive additives and binders. Such a judiciously crafted u‐Sb@CNF‐based anode renders a set of intriguing electrochemical properties, representing large charge capacity, unprecedented cycling stability, and outstanding rate performance. A reversible capacity of 225 mAh g^?1 is retained after 2000 cycles at 1 A g^?1.     

Germanium Quantum Dots Embedded in N‐Doping Graphene Matrix with Sponge‐Like Architecture for Enhanced Performance in Lithium‐Ion Batteries

Germanium quantum dots embedded in a nitrogen‐doped graphene matrix with a sponge‐like architecture (Ge/GN sponge) are prepared through a simple and scalable synthetic method, involving freeze drying to obtain the Ge(OH)₄/graphene oxide (GO) precursor and subsequent heat reduction treatment. Upon application as an anode for the lithium‐ion battery (LIB), the Ge/GN sponge exhibits a high discharge capacity compared with previously reported N‐doped graphene. The electrode with the as‐synthesized Ge/GN sponge can deliver a capacity of 1258 mAh g^?1 even after 50 charge/discharge cycles. This improved electrochemical performance can be attributed to the pore memory effect and highly conductive N‐doping GN matrix from the unique sponge‐like structure.     

Influence of cobalt concentration on structural and optical properties of ZnS quantum dots

ZnS and Co-doped ZnS nanoparticles have been prepared by simple chemical precipitation method. Zinc acetate, sodium sulfide, and cobalt nitrate have been used as precursors for the preparation of Co-doped ZnS quantum dots. The X-ray diffraction results revealed that the undoped and Co-doped ZnS quantum dots exhibit hexagonal structure. The average grain size of quantum dot was found to lie in the range of 2.6–3.8 nm. The surface morphology has been studied using scanning electron microscope. The compositional analysis results confirm the presence of Co, Zn and S in the sample. The optical properties of undoped and Co-doped ZnS quantum dots have been studied using absorption spectra. TEM results show that undoped and Co-doped ZnS nanoparticles exhibit a uniform size distribution with average size of 2.5–3.4 nm.     

Polydopamine-mediated synthesis of Si@carbon@graphene aerogels for enhanced lithium storage with long cycle life

The application of Si as the anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is still severely hindered by the rapid capacity decay due to the structural damage caused by large volume change (> 300%) during cycling. Herein, a three-dimensional (3D) aerogel anode of Si@carbon@graphene (SCG) is rationally constructed via a polydopamine-assisted strategy. Polydopamine is coated on Si nanoparticles to serve as an interface linker to initiate the assembly of Si and graphene oxide, which plays a crucial role in the successful fabrication of SCG aerogels. After annealing the polydopamine is converted into N-doped carbon (N-carbon) coatings to protect Si materials. The dual protection from N-carbon and graphene aerogels synergistically improves the structural stability and electronic conductivity of Si, thereby leading to the significantly improved lithium storage properties. Electrochemical tests show that the SCG with optimized graphene content delivers a high capacity (712 mAh/g at 100 mA/g) and robust cycling stability (402 mAh/g at 1 A/g after 1500 cycles). Furthermore, the full cell using SCG aerogels as anode exhibits a reversible capacity of 187.6 mAh/g after 80 cycles at 0.1 A/g. This work provides a plausible strategy for developing Si anode in LIBs.     

ZnS∶Co半导体量子点的制备及其光电化学性质

采用低温水热技术,分别以柠檬酸(CA)和巯基丙酸(MPA)为稳定剂,在70℃的水相中合成了单分散的,粒子尺寸约为4 nm的ZnS∶Co半导体量子点.研究了稳定剂、Co2+掺杂剂及其掺杂量对掺杂量子点发光性能和结构的影响.XRD结果表明,Co2+离子主要掺杂在量子点表面,对主体ZnS晶格没有影响.当采用MPA为稳定剂,掺杂量为5%(摩尔分数)时,掺杂量子点的荧光发射强度最高;而同样掺杂量下采用CA为稳定剂时,量子点的荧光发射强度有所下降.循环伏安研究显示,与空白ZnS量子点相比,Co2+离子的掺杂在ZnS的禁带中形成杂质能级,相应地,ZnS∶Co量子点的吸收边发生红移.与未掺杂ZnS量子点相比,掺杂量子点具有较少的表面非辐射复合中心,因而荧光发射强度显著提高.     

Preparation and formaldehyde sensitive properties of N-GQDs/SnO2 nanocomposite

Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) have both the properties of graphene and semiconductor quantum dots, and exhibit stronger quantum confinement effect and boundary effect than graphene. In addition, the band gap of GQDs will transform to non-zero from 0 eV of graphene by surface functionalization, which can be dispersed in common solvents and compounded with solid materials. In this work, the SnO₂ nanosheets were prepared by hydrothermal method. As the sensitizer, nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots (N-GQDs) were prepared and composited with SnO₂ nanosheets. Sensing performance of pristine SnO₂ and N-GQDs/SnO₂ were investigated with HCHO as the target gas. The response (R_a/R_g) of 0.1% N-GQDs/SnO₂ was 256 for 100 ppm HCHO at 60 °C, which was about 2.2 times higher than pristine SnO₂ nanosheet. In addition, the material also had excellent selectivity and low operation temperature. The high sensitivity of N-GQDs/SnO₂ was attributed to the increase of active sites on materials surface and the electrical regulation of N-GQDs. This research is helpful to develop new HCHO gas sensor and expand the application field of GQDs.     

Temperature-dependent photoluminescence of water-soluble quantum dots for a bioprobe

The photoluminescence of water-soluble CdSe/ZnS core/shell quantum dots is found to be temperature-dependent: as temperature arising from 280 K to 351 K, the photoluminescence declines with emission peak shifting towards the red at a rate of ∼0.11 nm K⁻¹. And the studies show that the photoluminescence of water-soluble CdSe/ZnS quantum dots with core capped by a thinner ZnS shell is more sensitive to temperature than that of ones with core capped by a thicker one. That is, with 50% decrement of the quantum yield the temperature of the former need to arise from 280 K to 295 K, while the latter requires much higher temperature (315.6 K), which means that the integrality of shell coverage is a very important factor on temperature-sensitivity to for the photoluminescence of water-soluble CdSe/ZnS quantum dots. Moreover, it is found that the water-soluble CdSe quantum dots with different core sizes, whose cores are capped by thicker ZnS shells, possess almost the same sensitivity to the temperature. All of the studies about photoluminescence temperature-dependence of water-soluble CdSe/ZnS core/shell quantum dots show an indispensable proof for their applications in life science.     

Rechargeable Potassium-Ion Full Cells Operating at −40 °C

Potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) are promising for cryogenic energy storage. However, current researches on low-temperature PIBs are limited to half cells utilizing potassium metal as an anode, and realizing rechargeable full cells is challenged by lacking viable anode materials and compatible electrolytes. Herein, a hard carbon (HC)-based low-temperature potassium-ion full cell is successfully fabricated for the first time. Experimental evidence and theoretical analysis revealed that potassium storage behaviors of HC anodes in the matched low-temperature electrolyte involve defect adsorption, interlayer co-intercalation, and nanopore filling. Notably, these unique potassiation processes exhibited low interfacial resistances and small reaction activation energies, enabling an excellent cycling performance of HC with a capacity of 175 mAh g⁻¹ at −40 °C (68 % of its room-temperature capacity). Consequently, the HC-based full cells demonstrated impressive rechargeability and high energy density above 100 Wh kg⁻¹_cathode at −40 °C, representing a significant advancement in the development of PIBs.     

Antimony anchored in MoS2 nanosheets with N-doped carbon coating to boost potassium storage performance

Potassium ions batteries (PIBs) have been considered as promising energy storage systems owning to potassium rich natural abundances. However, the difficult reaction kinetics and poor cycling of electrode restrict the further development of PIBs. In this work, antimony anchored in MoS₂ nanosheets with N-doped carbon coating (Sb/MoS₂/NCs) are prepared and evaluated as anode for PIBs. In the unique Sb/MoS₂/NCs structure, the volume expansion of Sb particles could be effectively buffered by the around MoS₂ structure. The defects in MoS₂ nanosheets provide more electrochemical reaction sites for sufficient K⁺ insertion/extraction. Furthermore, the N-doped carbon can further accommodate the volume expansion and improve the electronic conductivity of Sb/MoS₂/NCs composites. Due to the above advantages, the Sb/MoS₂/NCs anode delivers a capacity of 235 mAh/g at 50 mA/g after 78 cycles. This work provides a prospective strategy to design advanced anode materials for PIBs using MoS₂ and antimony composites.