Synthesis of hierarchical Na<Subscript>2</Subscript>FeP<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>7</Subscript> spheres with high electrochemical performance via spray drying

Hierarchical Na₂FeP₂O₇ spheres with nanoparticles were successfully fabricated by a facile spray drying method. A relatively low drying temperature was introduced in order to form a carbon layer on the surface. As a cathode material for sodium-ion batteries, it delivered a reversible capacity of 84.4 mAh g^?1 at 0.1 C and showed excellent cycling and rate performance (64.7 mAh g^?1 at 5 C). Furthermore, a full sodium battery was fabricated using SP-Na₂FeP₂O₇ as the cathode and hard carbon as the anode, suffering almost no capacity loss after 400 cycles at 1 C. Due to its superior electrochemical property and the low materials cost, Na₂FeP₂O₇ is becoming a promising cathode material for large-scale energy storage systems.     

Improving the electrochemical performance of Li-rich Li<Subscript>1.2</Subscript>Ni<Subscript>0.13</Subscript>Co<Subscript>0.13</Subscript>Mn<Subscript>0.54</Subscript>O<Subscript>2</Subscript> cathode material by LiF coating

To suppress the capacity fade of Li-rich Li_1.2Ni_0.13Co_0.13Mn_0.54O₂ material as cathode materials for lithium-ion battery, we introduce a LiF coating layer on the surface to improve the cycling performance of Li_1.2Ni_0.13Co_0.13Mn_0.54O₂ material. The modified sample shows a capacity of 163.2 mAh g^?1 with a capacity retention of 95% after 100 cycles at a current density of 250 mA g^?1, while the pristine sample only delivers a capacity of 129.9 mAh g^?1 with a capacity retention of 82%. Compared with the pristine material, the LiF-modified sample exhibits an obvious enhancement in the electrochemical performance, which will be very beneficial for this material to be commercialized on the new energy vehicles and other related areas.     

NiCo<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>4</Subscript> polyhedra with controllable particle size as high-performance anode for lithium-ion battery

Different particle sizes of dodecahedron precursors are synthesized by controlling the polarity of the solution. Through the results of scanning electron microscope (SEM) images, it can be found that different particle sizes of precursors present obvious edge angles and their morphology can be well retained after annealing. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements suggest that the annealed polyhedral products are pure single-phase NiCo₂O₄. When tested as lithium-ion battery anode, 0.5 μm NiCo₂O₄ polyhedra exhibits a specific capacity of 1050 mAh g^?1 at 0.1 C at the 60th cycle, which was higher than theoretical capacity of single metal oxide (NiO 718 mAh g^?1 and Co₃O₄ 890 mAh g^?1). It also exhibits the highest rate capability with an average discharge capacity of 890, 700, 490, 330, and 300 mAh g^?1 at 0.5, 2, 4, 8, and 10 C, respectively. Those advantages are attributed to that small-sized particle with great surface areas decrease the actual current density at the surface and inner of the prepared electrode.     

Electrophysical parameters of <Emphasis Type="Italic">c</Emphasis>-oriented Bi<Subscript>2</Subscript>Te<Subscript>3</Subscript> films with a low concentration of antistructural defects

Epitaxial c-oriented Bi₂Te₃ films 1.2 μm in thickness are grown by the hot wall method for a low supersaturation of the vapor phase over the surface of mica substrates. The hexagonal unit cell parameters a = 4.386 Å and c = 30.452 Å of the grown films almost coincide with the corresponding parameters of stoichiometric bulk Bi₂Te₃ crystals. At T = 100 K, the Hall concentration of electrons in the films is on the order of 8 × 10¹⁸ cm^?3, while the highest values of the thermoelectric coefficient (α ≈ 280 μV K^?1) are observed at temperatures on the order of 260 K. Under impurity conduction conditions, conductivity σ of the films increases upon cooling in inverse proportion to the squared temperature. In the temperature range 100–200 K, thermoelectric power parameter α²σ of Bi₂Te₃ films has values of 80–90 μW cm^?1 K^?2.     

Application of MEH-PPV/SnO<Subscript>2</Subscript> bilayer as hybrid solar cell

The effects of oxygen content in the sputtering gas on the crystallographic and optoelectronic properties of 210 nm-thick Zr–doped In₂O₃ (Zr–In₂O₃) films by rf magnetron sputtering were initially studied. The results of X-ray diffraction show that the Zr–In₂O₃ films grown on glass substrates exhibit mixed crystallographic orientations. Moreover, the Zr–In₂O₃ film grown in an Ar atmosphere promotes the appearance of crystallographic orientation of (222). The surface of the Zr–In₂O₃ film becomes rougher as the oxygen content in the sputtering gas decreases; the current images obtained by conductive atomic force microscopy reveal that the surfaces of the Zr–In₂O₃ films exhibit a distribution of coexisting conducting and nonconducting regions, and that the area of the nonconducting surface increases with the oxygen content in the sputtering gas. The resistivity is minimized to 3.51×10⁻⁴ Ω cm when the Zr–In₂O₃ film is grown in an Ar atmosphere and the average transmittance in the visible light region is ∼85%. The optical band gap decreases as the oxygen content in the sputtering gas increases.     

Roles of Al-doped ZnO (AZO) modification layer on improving electrochemical performance of LiNi<Subscript>1/3</Subscript>Co<Subscript>1/3</Subscript>Mn<Subscript>1/3</Subscript>O<Subscript>2</Subscript> thin film cathode

Al-doped ZnO (AZO) was sputtered on the surface of LiNi_1/3Co_1/3Mn_1/3O₂ (NCM) thin film electrode via radio frequency magnetron sputtering, which was demonstrated to be a useful approach to enhance electrochemical performance of thin film electrode. The structure and morphology of the prepared electrodes were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectrometer, and transmission electron microscopy techniques. The results clearly demonstrated that NCM thin film showed a strong (104) preferred orientation and AZO was uniformly covered on the surface of NCM electrode. After 200 cycles at 50 μA μm^?1 cm^?2, the NCM/AZO-60s electrode delivered highest discharge capacity (78.1 μAh μm^?1 cm^?2) compared with that of the NCM/AZO-120s electrode (62.4 μAh μm^?1 cm^?2) and the bare NCM electrode (22.3 μAh μm^?1 cm^?2). In addition, the rate capability of the NCM/AZO-60s electrode was superior to the NCM/AZO-120s and bare NCM electrodes. The improved electrochemical performance can be ascribed to the appropriate thickness of the AZO coating layer, which not only acted as HF scavenger to keep a stable electrode/electrolyte interface but also reduced the charge transfer resistance during cycling.     

Improving the rate performance and stability of LiNi<Subscript>0.6</Subscript>Co<Subscript>0.2</Subscript>Mn<Subscript>0.2</Subscript>O<Subscript>2</Subscript> in high voltage lithium-ion battery by using fluoroethylene carbonate as electrolyte additive

Fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) is investigated as the electrolyte additive to improve the electrochemical performance of high voltage LiNi_0.6Co_0.2Mn_0.2O₂ cathode material. Compared to LiNi_0.6Co_0.2Mn_0.2O₂/Li cells in blank electrolyte, the capacity retention of the cells with 5 wt% FEC in electrolytes after 80 times charge-discharge cycle between 3.0 and 4.5 V significantly improve from 82.0 to 89.7%. Besides, the capacity of LiNi_0.6Co_0.2Mn_0.2O₂/Li only obtains 12.6 mAh g^?1 at 5 C in base electrolyte, while the 5 wt% FEC in electrolyte can reach a high capacity of 71.3 mAh g^?1 at the same rate. The oxidative stability of the electrolyte with 5 wt% FEC is evaluated by linear sweep voltammetry and potentiostatic data. The LSV results show that the oxidation potential of the electrolytes with FEC is higher than 4.5 V vs. Li/Li⁺, while the oxidation peaks begin to appear near 4.3 V in the electrolyte without FEC. In addition, the effect of FEC on surface of LiNi_0.6Co_0.2Mn_0.2O₂ is elucidated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The analysis result indicates that FEC facilitates the formation of a more stable surface film on the LiNi_0.6Co_0.2Mn_0.2O₂ cathode. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) result evidences that the stable surface film could improve cathode electrolyte interfacial resistance. These results demonstrate that the FEC can apply as an additive for 4.5 V high voltage electrolyte system in LiNi_0.6Co_0.2Mn_0.2O₂/Li cells.     

Characterization of Zn<Subscript>2</Subscript>SnO<Subscript>4</Subscript> Thin Films Prepared by RF Magnetron Sputtering

Zn₂SnO₄ (ZTO) is a stable semiconductor in ZnO–SnO₂ system and important transparent conducting oxide (TCO) predominantly used in optoelectronic devices. ZTO thin films were prepared by RF magnetron sputtering using Zn₂SnO₄ ceramic target in this paper. The effects of annealing temperatures and oxygen contents on characterization of ZTO thin films were studied. The results show that ZTO thin films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering are amorphous with an optical band gap of 3.22 eV. After annealing at 650°C in Ar atmosphere for 40 min, ZTO films possess a spinel structure with an optical band gap of 3.62 eV. The atomic force microscope (AFM) data of morphology reveals that the surface roughness of films is about 2 nm. The results of energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) show that the concentration ratio of Zn to Sn is in the range from 1.44 to 1.57. The results of Hall-effect-measurement system reveal that the resistivity of films varies from 102 to 10–1 Ωcm, carrier concentration is about 10¹⁷ cm^–3, and mobility ranges from 10⁰ to 10¹ cm² v^–1 s^–1.     

Effects of doping Al on the structure and electrochemical performances of Li[Li<Subscript>0.2</Subscript>Mn<Subscript>0.54</Subscript>Ni<Subscript>0.13</Subscript>Co<Subscript>0.13</Subscript>]O<Subscript>2</Subscript> cathode materials

The Li-rich cathode material Li[Li_0.2Mn_0.54Ni_0.13Co_0.13]O₂ had been successfully synthesized by a carbonate coprecipitation method. The effects of substituting traces of Al element for different transitional metal elements on the crystal structure and surface morphology had been investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy. The results revealed that all the materials showed similar XRD patterns and surface morphology. It was demonstrated that LNCMAl1 exhibited the superior electrochemical performance. The discharge capacity was 265.2 mAh g^?1 at 0.1 C and still maintained a discharge capacity of 135.6 mAh g^?1 at 5.0 C. The capacity retention could still be 58.2 and 66.8% after 50 cycles at 1.0 and 2.0 C, respectively. Electrochemical impedance spectra results proved that the remarkably improved rate capability and cycling performance could be ascribed to the low charge transfer resistance and enhanced reaction kinetics.     

Nano Li<Subscript>4</Subscript>Ti<Subscript>5</Subscript>O<Subscript>12</Subscript> as sulfur host for high-performance Li-S battery

S/Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ cathode with high lithium ionic conductivity was prepared for Li-S battery. Herein, nano Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ is used as sulfur host and fast Li⁺ conductor, which can adsorb effectively polysulfides and improve remarkably Li⁺ diffusion coefficient in sulfur cathode. At 0.5 C, S/Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ cathode has a stable discharge capacity of 616 mAh g^?1 at the 700th cycle and a capacity loss per cycle of 0.0196% from the second to the 700th cycle, but the corresponding values of S/C cathode are 437 mAh g^?1 and 0.0598%. Even at 2 C, the capacity loss per cycle of S/Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ cathode is only 0.0273% from the second to the 700th cycle. The results indicate that Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ as the sulfur host plays a key role on the high performance of Li-S battery due to reducing the shuttle effect and enhancing lithium ionic conductivity.     

LiNi<Subscript>0.5</Subscript>Mn<Subscript>1.5</Subscript>O<Subscript>4</Subscript> hollow nano-micro hierarchical microspheres as advanced cathode for lithium ion batteries

The high-voltage spinel-type LiNi_0.5Mn_1.5O₄ (LNMO) is a promising cathode material for next-generation lithium ion batteries. In this study, hollow LNMO microspheres have been synthesized via co-precipitation method accompanied with high-temperature calcinations. The physical and electrochemical properties of the materials are characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), TGA, RAMAN, CV, scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electon microscopy (TEM), electrochemical impendence spectroscopy (EIS), and charge-discharge tests. The results prove that the microspheres combine hollow structures inward and own a cubic spinel structure with space group of Fd-3m, high crystallinity, and excellent electrochemical performances. With the short Li⁺ diffusion length and hollow structure, the hierarchical LNMO microspheres exhibit 138.2 and 108.5 mAh g^?1 at 0.5 and 10 C, respectively. Excellent cycle stability is also demonstrated with more than 98.8 and 88.2 % capacity retention after 100 cycles at 1 and 10 C, respectively.     

Electro-optic properties of epitaxial Sr<Subscript>0.6</Subscript>Ba<Subscript>0.4</Subscript>Nb<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>6</Subscript> films grown on MgO substrates using Li<Subscript>x</Subscript>Ni<Subscript>2-x</Subscript>O buffer layer

Textured Li_xNi_2-xO (LNO) thin films have been fabricated on (001)MgO substrates by pulsed laser deposition technique. The as-deposited LNO films shows a conductivity of 2.5×10^-3 Ω m and possess a transmittance of about 35% in the visible region. Subsequent deposition of Sr_0.6Ba_0.4Nb₂O₆ (SBN60) thin film on these LNO-coated MgO substrates resulted in a textured SBN layer with a 〈001〉 orientation perpendicular to the substrate plane. Phi scans on the (221) plane of the SBN layer indicated that the films have two in-plane orientations with respect to the substrate. The SBN unit cells were rotated in the plane of the film by ± 8.2° as well as ± 45° with respect to the LNO/MgO substrate. Besides the highly (00l)-orientation, the SBN films also exhibited a dense microstructure as shown by scanning electron microscopy. The electro-optic coefficient (r₃₃) of the SBN film was measured to be 186 pm/V. On the basis of our results, we have demonstrated that the LNO film can be used as a buffer layer as well as a transparent bottom electrode for waveguide applications. The SBN/LNO heterostructure is also a suitable candidate for integrated electro-optics devices. PACS  42.79.Gn; 42.82.Et; 78.20.Ci     

Synthesis and electrochemical properties of P2-Na<Subscript>2/3</Subscript>Ni<Subscript>1/3</Subscript>Mn<Subscript>2/3</Subscript>O<Subscript>2</Subscript>

The pure phase P2-Na_2/3Ni_1/3Mn_2/3O₂ was synthesized by a solid reaction process. The optimum calcination temperature was 850 °C. The as-prepared product delivered a capacity of 158 mAh g^?1 in the voltage range of 2–4.5 V, and there was a phase transition from P2 to O2 at about 4.2 V in the charge process. The P2 phase exhibited excellent intercalation behavior of Na ions. The reversible capacity is about 88.5 mAh g^?1 at 0.1 C in the voltage range of 2–4 V at room temperature. At an elevated temperature of 55 °C, it could remain as an excellent capacity retention at low current rates. The P2-Na_2/3Ni_1/3Mn_2/3O₂ is a potential cathode material for sodium-ion batteries.     

Synthesis and electrochemical properties of Li<Subscript>1.2</Subscript>Mn<Subscript>0.54</Subscript>Ni<Subscript>0.13</Subscript>Co<Subscript>0.13</Subscript>O<Subscript>2</Subscript> cathode material for lithium-ion battery

The layered Li_1.2Mn_0.54Ni_0.13Co_0.13O₂ lithium-rich manganese-based solid solution cathode material has been synthesized by a simple solid-state method. The as-prepared material has a typical layered structure with R-3m and C2/m space group. The synthesized Li_1.2Mn_0.54Ni_0.13Co_0.13O₂ has an irregular shape with the size range from 200 to 500 nm, and the primary particle of Li_1.2Mn_0.54Ni_0.13Co_0.13O₂ has regular sphere morphology with a diameter of 320 nm. Electrochemical performances also have been investigated. The results show that the cathode material Li_1.2Mn_0.54Ni_0.13Co_0.13O₂ prepared at 900 °C for 12 h has a good electrochemical performance, which can deliver a high initial discharge capacity of 233.5, 214.2, 199.3, and 168.1 mAh g^?1 at 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, and 1 C, respectively. After 50 cycles, the capacity retains 178.0, 166.3, 162.1, and 155.9 mAh g^?1 at 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, and 1 C, respectively. The results indicate that the simple method has a great potential in synthesizing manganese-based cathode materials for Li-ion batteries.     

Multi-hierarchical nanosheet-assembled chrysanthemum-structured Na<Subscript>3</Subscript>V<Subscript>2</Subscript>(PO<Subscript>4</Subscript>)<Subscript>3</Subscript>/C as electrode materials for high-performance sodium-ion batteries

The structure and morphology of sodium vanadium phosphate (Na₃V₂(PO₄)₃) play a vital role in enhancing the electrochemical performance of sodium-ion batteries due to the inherent poor electronic conductivity of the phosphate framework. In order to improve this drawback, a new chrysanthemum-structured Na₃V₂(PO₄)₃/C material has been successfully assembled with multi-hierarchical nanosheets via a hydrothermal method. Continuous scattering nanosheets in chrysanthemum petals are beneficial in reducing energy consumption during the process of sodium ion diffusion, on which the carbon-coated surface can significantly increase overall conductivity. The as-prepared sample exhibits outstanding electrochemical performance due to its unique structure. It rendered a high initial specific capacity of 117.4?mAh?g^?1 at a current density of 0.05 C. Further increasing the current density to 10 C, the initial specific capacity still achieves 101.3?mAh?g^?1 and remains at 87.5?mAh?g^?1 after 1000 cycles. In addition, a symmetrical sodium-ion full battery using the chrysanthemum-structured Na₃V₂(PO₄)₃/C materials as both the cathode and anode has been successfully fabricated, delivering the capacity of 62?mAh?g^?1 at 1?C and achieving the coulombic efficiency at an average of 96.4% within 100 cycles. These results indicate that the new chrysanthemum-structured Na₃V₂(PO₄)₃/C can provide a new idea for the development of high-performance sodium-ion batteries.     

Spherical shape BaO-ZnO-B<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>-SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> glass powders prepared by spray pyrolysis

Fine-sized BaO-ZnO-B₂O₃-SiO₂ (BZBS) glass powders were directly prepared by high temperature spray pyrolysis. The hollow glass powders prepared at low preparation temperature of 1000 °C had a low density of 2.65 g/cm³. However, the densities of the BZBS powders obtained at preparation temperatures of 1200 and 1400 °C were each 3.92 and 4.13 g/cm³. The mean size of the BZBS glass powders prepared by spray pyrolysis at preparation temperature of 1400 °C was 0.98 μm. The glass transition temperature (T_g) of the prepared BZBS glass powders was 518.9 °C. The dielectric layers formed from the prepared BZBS glass powders with a dense structure had a clean surface and a dense inner structure without voids at the firing temperature of 580 °C. The transparencies of the dielectric layers formed from the prepared BZBS glass powders were higher than 90% within the visible range. PACS 42.70.Ce; 85.60.Pg; 71.55.Jv     

Systematic investigation of the reactive ion beam sputter deposition process of SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript>

Ion beam sputter deposition (IBSD) is an established physical vapour deposition technique that offers the opportunity to tailor the properties of film-forming particles and, consequently, film properties. This is because of two reasons: (i) ion generation and acceleration (ion source), sputtering (target) and film deposition (substrate) are locally separated. (ii) The angular and energy distribution of sputtered target atoms and scattered primary particles depend on ion incidence angle, ion energy, and ion species. Ion beam sputtering of a Si target in a reactive oxygen atmosphere was used to grow SiO₂ films on silicon substrates. The sputtering geometry, ion energy and ion species were varied systematically and their influence on film properties was investigated. The SiO₂ films are amorphous. The growth rate increases with increasing ion energy and ion incidence angle. Thickness, index of refraction, stoichiometry, mass density and surface roughness show a strong correlation with the sputtering geometry. A considerable amount of primary inert gas particles is found in the deposited films. The primary ion species also has an impact on the film properties, whereas the influence of the ion energy is rather small.     

Electrical properties of Sr<Subscript>3</Subscript>Bi<Subscript>4</Subscript>Ti<Subscript>6</Subscript>O<Subscript>21</Subscript> thin films

Highly c-axis-oriented Sr₃Bi₄Ti₆O₂₁ (SBTi) thin films were fabricated on Pt-coated Si substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). The structures were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). No peaks of SrTiO₃ (STO) could be detected in the XRD pattern, indicating the existence of the SBTi single phase. Good ferroelectric hysteresis loops of the films with Pt electrodes were obtained. With an applied field of 400 kV/cm, the measured remanent polarization (P_r) and coercive field (E_c) values were 4.1 C/cm² and 75 kV/cm respectively. The films showed little fatigue after 2.22×10⁹ switching cycles: the nonvolatile polarizations decreased by less than 5% of the initial values. The dielectric constant and the loss tangent of the films were measured to be 363 and 0.04 at 100 kHz. These results might be advantageous for nonvolatile ferroelectric random access memory (NVFRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM). PACS 77.84.Dy; 77.22.-d; 68.55.Jk     

Structure and Polarization Relaxation of Ba<Subscript>0.5</Subscript>Sr<Subscript>0.5</Subscript>Nb<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>6</Subscript>/(001)Si Films

The structure and dielectric characteristics of strontium barium niobate thin films deposited on single-crystalline silicon substrates without buffer layers are studied. It is found that the c axis in these heterostructures runs largely normally to the substrate surface and the a and b axes are randomly oriented in the plane of the substrate. The polarization relaxation in such heterostructures is investigated. It is shown that the film–substrate interface in the heterostructures grown by rf cathode sputtering may contain a low amount of long-lived charged defects.