Flexible Polyester Cellulose Paper Supercapacitor with a Gel Electrolyte

A low-cost polyester cellulose paper has been used as a substrate for a flexible supercapacitor device that contains aqueous carbon nanotube ink as the electrodes and a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based gel as the electrolyte. Gel electrolytes have attracted much interest due to their solvent-holding capacity and good film-forming capability. The electrodes are characterized for their conductivity and morphology. Because of its high conductivity, the conductive paper is studied in supercapacitor applications as active electrodes and as separators after coating with polyvinylidene fluoride. Carbon nanotubes deposited on porous paper are more accessible to ions in the electrolyte than those on flat substrates, which results in higher power density. A simple fabrication process is achieved and paper supercapacitors are tested for their performance in both aqueous and PVA gel electrolytes by using galvanostatic and cyclic voltammetry methods. A high specific capacitance of 270 F g⁻¹ and an energy density value of 37 W h kg⁻¹ are achieved for devices with PVA gel electrolytes. Furthermore, this device can maintain excellent specific capacitance even under high currents. This is also confirmed by another counter experiment with aqueous sulfuric acid as the electrolyte. The cycle life, one of the most critical parameters in supercapacitor operations, is found to be excellent (6000 cycles) and less than 0.5 % capacitance loss is observed. Moreover, the supercapacitor device is flexible and even after twisting does not show any cracks or evidence of breakage, and shows almost the same specific capacitance of 267 F g⁻¹and energy density of 37 W h kg⁻¹. This work suggests that a paper substrate can be a highly scalable and low-cost solution for high-performance supercapacitors.     

Integrated Devices to Realize Energy Conversion and Storage Simultaneously

Other forms of energy are generally converted to electric energy and then transported to electrochemical devices, where the energy is stored, by external electric wires. To further improve total energy conversion and storage efficiency, interest in simultaneously realize the energy conversion and storage in a single device has increased. This Concept describes recent progress in developing such novel integrated energy devices. Both planar and wire architectures are carefully illustrated with an emphasis on the “energy wire” which has been the focus of past developments due to its unique and promising applications, such as being woven into clothes or other complex structures by conventional textile technology. The current challenges and future directions of the integrated devices, particularly in the wire architecture, are summarized.     

New Tools for Investigating Electromagnetic Hot Spots in Single‐Molecule Surface‐Enhanced Raman Scattering

Surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is quickly growing as an analytical technique, because it offers both molecular specificity and excellent sensitivity. For select substrates, SERS can even be observed from single molecules, which is the ultimate limit of detection. This review describes recent developments in the field of single‐molecule SERS (SM‐SERS) with a focus on new tools for characterizing SM‐SERS‐active substrates and how they interact with single molecules on their surface. In particular, techniques that combine optical spectroscopy and microscopy with electron microscopy are described, including correlated optical and transmission electron microscopy, correlated super‐resolution imaging and scanning electron microscopy, and correlated optical microscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy.     

Theoretical Design of Strong Neutral Radical–Boron Adducts: Trisubstituted Boranes as Potential Radical Scavengers

The conditions of formation of strong two‐center one‐electron bonds in neutral compounds are discussed. Both molecular orbital and valence bond analyses show that good candidates are adducts of radicals ^.AR₃ (A=C, Si, Ge) of low ionization energy (IE) with boranes BX₃ of high electron affinity (EA). This is confirmed by ab initio calculations. The bond energy of adducts of B(CF₃)₃ with various radicals ranges from 18 kcal mol^?1 for ^.CH₃ to approximately 40 kcal mol^?1 for Me₃Si^., and a clear correlation with IE–EA difference is found. This allows one to expect B(CF₃)₃, among other fluoroboranes, to be an efficient radical scavenger.     

Theoretical Study on the Hydrogen Bonding Interactions in Complexes of 5‐Hydroxytryptamine with Water

The energies, geometries and harmonic vibrational frequencies of 1:1 5‐hydroxytryptamine‐water (5‐HT‐H₂O) complexes are studied at the MP2/6‐311++G(d,p) level. Natural bond orbital (NBO), quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) analyses and the localized molecular orbital energy decomposition analysis (LMO‐EDA) were performed to explore the nature of the hydrogen‐bonding interactions in these complexes. Various types of hydrogen bonds (H‐bonds) are formed in these 5‐HT‐H₂O complexes. The intermolecular C4H5^5‐HT···O^w H‐bond in HTW3 is strengthened due to the cooperativity, whereas no such cooperativity is found in the other 5‐HT‐H₂O complexes. H‐bond in which nitrogen atom of amino in 5‐HT acted as proton donors was stronger than other H‐bonds. Our researches show that the hydrogen bonding interaction plays a vital role on the relative stabilities of 5‐HT‐H₂O complexes.     

介孔碳纳米纤维-硫作为锂硫电池正极材料

锂硫电池的商用化受到硫和多硫化锂低的电导率、多硫化锂在有机电解液中的溶解、放电过程中硫的体积膨胀等因素的制约。我们通过自模板法制备了具有石墨化孔壁结构的介孔碳纳米纤维（MCNF）,并利用这种结构将硫和多硫化锂封装在碳骨架内。具有石墨化孔壁结构的一维MCNF能够在循环中为硫和多硫化锂提供良好的导电网络。MCNF中小的介孔能够抑制长链多硫化锂的扩散。另外,MCNF大的孔容能够负载比较多的硫,并且能够为硫的放电膨胀提供足够的纳米空间。本工作制备的MCNF-硫纳米复合材料在0.8A·g^-1的电流密度下,经过100次循环后仍有820mAh·g^-1的比容量。     

硼、氮共掺杂多孔碳的制备及其超电容性能

分别以含氮菲咯啉、四硼酸钾和醋酸锌为碳源、活化剂和模板,制备了B、N共掺杂多孔碳(BN-PC),并探究模板质量对BN-PC结构和储电性能的影响。当醋酸锌质量为5g时,所得BN-PC₅中B、N杂原子含量分别为 20.21%、18.29%。电化学测试结果表明,以6 mol·L^-1 KOH为电解液,BN-PC₅电极展现出高的比电容(在0.05 A·g^-1电流密度下为255 F·g^-1)、优异的倍率性能(在20A·g^-1电流密度下为188F·g^-1)和卓越的循环稳定性(在5 A·g^-1的电流密度下循环10 000次比电容保持率为97%)。以3 mol·L^-1 ZnSO₄为电解液,在平均功率密度为56W·kg^-1时,BN-PC₅电容器的能量密度可达27Wh·kg^-1。     

Bi掺杂锐钛矿相TiO2第一性原理计算

采用密度泛函理论(DFT)下的第一性原理平面波超软赝势方法计算了Bi掺杂前后锐钛矿相TiO2的电子结构和光学性质。结果分析发现:掺杂后Ti的电荷布居数下降,O的布居数增加;同时在TiO2禁带中引入了杂质能级,禁带宽度略微变大,但是杂质能级的作用抵消了禁带宽度变大带来的不利影响,使得掺杂后TiO2吸收带边红移并在可见光范围内吸收明显增强。     

半导体光解水制氢研究:现状、挑战及展望

通过半导体光催化分解水反应实现太阳能向清洁能源氢能的转化,是解决人类面临的能源和环境危机的终极途径之一。该过程的关键是开发宽光谱响应、高效的光催化剂,到目前为止,调控能带结构、制备活性晶面、构建异质结构、负载助催化剂等诸多方法被广泛应用于扩展半导体材料的吸光范围和提高其光催化活性。本文介绍了半导体光解水制氢的基本原理,并综述了该领域的研究进展,重点关注提高半导体光催化活性的方法及其所面临的挑战和瓶颈问题,并结合相关课题组的研究工作提出可能的应对策略。     

室温下制备以{211}晶面为主的Ti1-xVxO2薄膜及其可见光催化性能

以金属Ti和V作为靶材,采用直流反应共溅射技术在室温下制备了以{211}晶面为主的锐钛矿相Ti_1-xV_xO₂薄膜,研究了不同V靶功率对Ti_1-xV_xO₂薄膜的薄膜成分、晶相结构和可见光催化性能的影响。研究表明,Ti_1-xV_xO₂薄膜的晶相结构为锐钛矿相,择优取向为(211),而结晶度受V靶功率的影响。随着V靶功率的增加,薄膜中V元素含量逐渐增加,同时,晶粒和沉积速率也逐渐增加。另外,当V靶功率为150 W时,薄膜的表面粗糙度值有一个最大值。V的掺杂导致薄膜的能带间隙变窄,对光的吸收向可见光区偏移,从而有效地改善了薄膜的可见光催化能力。当V靶功率为150 W时,Ti_1-xV_xO₂薄膜的能带间隙值为 2.82 eV,其在2 h的可见光照射下分解了80%的RhB染料。这被归结于能带间隙窄,高能晶面{211}和结晶度高的共同作用。