α-Fe2O3 nanotubes with superior lithium storage capability

Polycrystalline α-Fe(2)O(3) nanotubes with thin walls have been synthesized by one-step template-engaged precipitation of Fe(OH)(x) followed by thermal annealing. In virtue of the unique structural features, these α-Fe(2)O(3) nanotubes exhibit superior lithium storage capabilities with exceptional high-rate capacity retention as a potential anode material for lithium-ion batteries.     

Study of the “Diamond—Pyrolytic Carbon” nanocomposites using lithium intercalation

Electrochemical behavior of the diamond-based composites: a nanodiamond—pyrocarbon composite and Carbal, as well as vacuum-high-temperature-annealed polycrystalline diamond is studied by the cathodic lithium incorporation from LiPF ₆ solution in a (1 : 4) propylene carbonate—diethyl carbonate mixture. The amount of incorporated lithium steadily increases with the nondiamond (graphite-like) carbon content in the composite. The intercalation capacity of Carbal equals ~33 mA-h per g of the graphite-like carbon. It is concluded that the graphite-like carbon distributed in the nano-(or micro-)diamond carcass is the electrochemically active phase in the composites.Translated from Elektrokhimiya, Vol. 40, No. 12, 2004, pp. 1508–1513.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2004 by Pleskov, Kulova, Skundin, Krotova, Ralchenko, Korchagina, Gordeev.     

Edge sulfurized graphene nanoplatelets via vacuum mechano-chemical reaction for lithium–sulfur batteries

Lithium–sulfur batteries have great potential for high energy applications due to their high capacities,low cost and eco-friendliness. However, the particularly rapid capacity decay owing to the dissolution and diffusion of polysulfide intermediate into the electrolyte still hamper their practical applications.And the reported preparation procedures to sulfur based cathode materials are often complex, and hence are rather difficult to produce at large scale. Here, we report a simple mechano-chemical sulfurization methodology in vacuum environment applying ball-milling method combined both the chemical and physical interaction for the one-pot synthesis of edge-sulfurized grapheme nanoplatelets with 3D porous foam structure as cathode materials. The optimal sample of 70%S–Gn Ps-48 h(ball-milled 48 h) obtains 13.2 wt% sulfur that chemically bonded onto the edge of Gn Ps. And the assembled batteries exhibit high initial discharge capacities of 1089 mAh/g at 0.1 C and 950 mAh/g at 0.5 C, and retain a stable discharge capacity of 776 mAh/g after 250 cycles at 0.5 C with a high Coulombic efficiency of over 98%. The excellent performance is mainly attributed to the mechano-chemical interaction between sulfur and grapheme nanoplatelets. This definitely triggers the currently extensive research in lithium–sulfur battery area.     

Reduced graphene oxide-encapsulated mesoporous silica as sulfur host for lithium–sulfur battery

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - With up to fivefold higher in energy density vs. lithium-ion battery, lithium–sulfur (Li–S) battery is a compelling energy storage system,...     

Core@shell sulfur@polypyrrole nanoparticles sandwiched in graphene sheets as cathode for lithium–sulfur batteries

A nano sulfur-based composite cathode material featured by uniform core@shell-structured sulfur@polypyrrole nanoparticles sandwiched in three-dimensional graphene sheets conductive network(S@PPy/GS) is fabricated via a facile solution-based method. The S@PPy nanoparticles are synthesized by in situ chemical oxidative polymerization of pyrrole on the surface of sulfur particles,and then graphene sheets are covered outside the S@PPy nanoparticles,forming a three-dimensional conductive network. When evaluating the electrochemical performance of S@PPy/GS in a lithium–sulfur battery,it delivers large discharge capacity,excellent cycle stability,and good rate capability. The initial discharge capacity is up to 1040 m Ah/g at 0.1 C,the capacity can remain 537.8 m Ah/g at 0.2 C after 200 cycles,even at a higher rate of 1 C,the specific capacity still reaches 566.5 m Ah/g. The good electrochemical performance is attributed to the unique structure of S@PPy/GS,which can not only provide an excellent transport of lithium and electron ions within the electrodes,but also retard the shuttle effect of soluble lithium polysulfides effectively,thus plays a positive role in building better lithium-sulfur batteries.     

Activated hierarchical porous carbon@π-conjugated polymer composite as cathode for high-performance lithium storage

Organic compounds become promising candidates for cathodes of rechargeable lithium battery (RLB) due to the high theoretical capacity and improved safety. However, they exhibit low conductivity and easy dissolution in electrolyte, which leads to the low utilization of active materials and poor cycling stability of RLBs. Here, we synthesize a novel composite of activated hierarchical porous carbon supporting poly(1,5-diamino-anthraquinone) (aHPC@PDAA), using Ce(SO₄)₂ as oxidant and naphthalenesulfonic acid (NSA) as soft template for PDAA. The as-synthesized composite exhibits uniformly nanoporous structure with nano-sized PDAA particles distributed homogenously inside and outside of pores. The aHPC@PDAA cathode for RLBs achieves high electrochemical performance with a discharge capacity as much as 250 mAh g^?1 at the current density of 100 mA g^?1, which still maintains 176 mAh g^?1 after 2000 charging-discharging cycles.     

Graphene supported Sn–Sb@carbon core-shell particles as a superior anode for lithium ion batteries

This paper reports the preparation and Li-storage properties of graphene nanosheets(GNS), GNS supported Sn–Sb@carbon (50–150 nm) and Sn–Sb nanoparticles (5–10 nm). The best cycling performance and excellent high rate capabilities were observed for GNS-supported Sn–Sb@carbon core-shell particles, which exhibited initial capacities of 978, 850 and 668 mAh/g respectively at 0.1C, 2C and 5C (1C = 800 mA/g) with good cyclability. Besides the GNS support, the carbon skin around Sn–Sb particles is believed to be a key factor to improve electrochemical properties of Sn–Sb.     

Compatibilized polyethylene—thermally reduced graphene nanocomposites: Interfacial interactions and hyperspectral mapping for component distribution

Ethylene-co-acrylic acid (EAA) and ethylene-co-methacrylic acid ionomer (EMAZ) copolymers were used as compatibilizers for polyethylene-graphene nanocomposites generated by melt mixing. At 5 wt% content, the EAA compatibilizer enhanced the tensile modulus of PE by 40 % and shear modulus by >300 % (1 rad/s) due to efficient dispersion of graphene platelets which helped in effective stress transfer. These also resulted in enhanced thermal stability for PE-EAA-G nanocomposite as compared to nanocomposite with EMAZ. The properties of the nanocomposites were significantly better than the conventional nanocomposites based on layered silicate materials. Mapping of the component distribution in the nanocomposites was demonstrated by using hyperspectral imaging. The nanocomposite with EAA exhibited higher extent of spectral signal mixing due to better mixing of filler and compatibilizer in PE matrix. On the other hand, nanocomposite with EMAZ had no spectral mixing as the components did not mix optimally with each other. The DSC thermogram for this nanocomposite also exhibited a small shoulder at low temperature probably due to immiscibility of the compatibilizer with the matrix polymer. The hyperspectral imaging and mapping was thus demonstrated to be a useful method for determination of component distribution in complex nanocomposite systems.     

Improved lithium cyclability and storage in mesoporous SnO2 electronically wired with very low concentrations (≤1 %) of reduced graphene oxide

On the wire: Mesoporous tin dioxide (SnO(2)) wired with very low amounts (≤1?%) of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) exhibits a remarkable improvement in lithium-ion battery performance over bare mesoporous or solid nanoparticles of SnO(2). Reversible lithium intercalation into SnO(2)/SnO over several cycles was demonstrated in addition to conventional reversible lithium storage by an alloying reaction.     

The “twinkling star” materials: highly superior molecular switches for bioimaging

<正>Artificial molecular switches have been the robust tools for diverse fields of modern science and technology, including molecular machines, smart materials, and bioimaging [1].The development of new concepts to enable the creation of efficient molecular switches has been a longstanding activity in these fields. Up to date, various kinds of molecular switches have been developed, most of which work between     

Nickelocene/lithium aluminium hydride-a “homogeneous raney nickel” for catalytic hydrogenation

Nickelocene/lithium aluminum hydride in THF has been found to be an active homogeneous catalyst for catalytic hydrogenation. The reaction behaviour Is very similar to Raney nickel.     

β-Cyclodextrin-grafted magnetic graphene oxide nanocomposites in ultrasound-assisted dispersive magnetic solid-phase extraction for simultaneous preconcentration of lead and cadmium ions

Research on Chemical Intermediates - This article presents an ultrasound-assisted dispersive magnetic solid-phase extraction method (USA-DMSPE) to preconcentration Cd(II) and Pb(II) simultaneously....     

A Co(OH)2−graphene nanosheets composite as a high performance anode material for rechargeable lithium batteries

A Co(OH)₂?graphene nanosheets (Co(OH)₂?GNS) composite as a high performance anode material was firstly prepared through a simultaneous hydrothermal method. The structure, morphology and electrochemical performance of the obtained samples were systematically investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and electrochemical measurements. According to the TEM analysis, the surface of the Co(OH)₂ is surrounded with GNS in the Co(OH)₂?GNS composite. The specific discharge (lithiation) and charge (delithiation) capacities of Co(OH)₂?GNS attain to 1599 and 1120 mAh/g at a current density of 200 mA/g in the first cycle, respectively. After 30 cycles, the reversible capacity of Co(OH)₂?GNS is still 910 mAh/g with the retention of 82%. The particular structure of Co(OH)₂ particles surrounded by the GNS could limit the volume change during cycling and provide an excellent electronic conduction pathway, which could be the main reason for the remarkable improvement of electrochemical performance.     

From sand to fast and stable silicon anode: Synthesis of hollow Si@void@C yolk–shell microspheres by aluminothermic reduction for lithium storage

We report aluminothermic reduction enabled synthesis of hollow silicon microspheres from sand, which are further encaged in a carbon shell, resulting in hollow Si@void@C yolk-shell microspheres. The hollow Si@void@C yolk-shell microspheres exhibit superior long-term cyclability and rate capability, which lay a basis for the development of high-performance silicon anode of advanced LIBs.     

A Hexavalent Basket for Bottom-Up Construction of Functional Soft Materials and Polyvalent Drugs through a “Click” Reaction

Inspired by polyvalency and its prevalence in nature, we developed an efficient synthetic route for accessing a large variety of multivalent and dual-cavity baskets from inexpensive and abundant starting materials. First, the cycloaddition of vinyl acetate to anthracene was optimized to, upon hydrolysis, give dibenzobarrelene derivative 6 , which after five functional group transformations and then cyclotrimerization gave heptiptycene dodecaester 4 in an overall 17 % yield. Following that, compound 4 was converted into D_3h symmetric 1 , composed of two fused cavitands each holding three terminal alkynes at the rim for conjugation to functional molecules using the highly efficient CuAAC reaction. To survey the reactivity of hexavalent 1 , we “clicked” 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-β-d -glucopyranosyl azide 3,4,6-triacetate (carbohydrate), methoxypolyethylene glycol azide (PEG, M_n=2000; polymer) and benzyl azide (aromatic) to obtain hexavalent conjugates 12 – 14 in 50–79 % yields. In summary, dual-cavity 1 is an accessible, structurally-unique and hexavalent host that can be “clicked” to a variety of functional molecules for (a) combinatorial lead identification of drugs, (b) preparation of hierarchical soft materials and (c) design of selective chemosensors, scavengers, or supramolecular catalysts.     

A facile rheological approach for the evaluation of “super toughness point” of compatibilized HDPE / MWCNT nanocomposites

Fast and efficient determination of the optimal mechanical property of a polymer/CNT nanocomposite is crucial to develop polymer conductive nanocomposites. This work establishes a rheological approach to evaluate the super-toughness point of compatibilized high density polyethylene (HDPE)/multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) nanocomposites. Results illustrate that three types of HDPE/MWCNT nanocomposites exhibit obvious gel plateaus in the dynamic rheological curves and the gel points of nanocomposites with compatibilizer shift to the low MWCNTs loading. The super-toughness points of HDPE/MWCNT nanocomposites with compatibilizers show the correspondence with the gel points acquired from the rheological data, indicating that dynamic rheology is an effective way to determine the super-toughness points of HDPE/MWCNT nanocomposites with compatibilizers. Furthermore, unique network structure at the gel points is directly observed and the new mechanism of toughness is proposed. This study provides new insights for effective control of the structures and properties of polymer/CNT nanocomposites.     

“Grafting through” approach for synthesis of polystyrene/silica aerogel nanocomposites by in situ reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer polymerization

Aerogel/polystyrene nanocomposites with mixed free and aerogel-attached polystyrene chains were synthesized using reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. 3-methacryloxypropyldimethylchlorosilane containing a double bond, which could be incorporated into polystyrene chains by a “grafting through” approach, was used as an aerogel modifier. Kinetics of RAFT polymerization of styrene in the presence of modified silica aerogel was studied by monitoring conversion and molar mass values. To further study, attached polymers were detached and their molecular characteristics were compared to free chains. According to results, the presence of silica aerogel particles has a sensible influence on polymerization kinetic and more aerogels result in decreased polymerization rate and conversion. The dispersity (Ð) of polymer chains increased by the addition of silica aerogel. In the case of aerogel-attached polystyrene chains, number-averaged molar mass values were slightly lower than that of free chains. Also, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques were used to observe the effect of loading on thermal properties of synthesized nanocomposites.     

“Confinement effects for nano-electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction”

Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is one of the most technologically relevant reactions. It occurs at the interface of the electrocatalyst and electrolyte, where oxygen reacts with protons and electrons to produce water. Because the electrocatalyst is dispersed on a high surface area support, morphological confinement becomes critical, as it dictates proton and oxygen transport. Furthermore, confinement is induced by ionomer, ionic liquids (ILs), or molecular additives, and their impact on electrocatalyst reactivity and transport properties is currently not well understood. We present an overview of electrostatics and mass transport–induced confinement and zoom in into ILs and molecular additives and try to unravel how local confinement induced by them impacts ORR.