Selection and Surface Modifications of Current Collectors for Anode-Free Polymer-Based Solid-State Batteries.

Anode-free batteries (AFB) have attracted increasing interest in recent times because they allow the elimination of the conventional anode from the cell, exploiting lithium inventory from a lithiated cathode. This implies a much simpler, cost-effective, and sustainable approach. The AFB configuration with liquid electrolytes is being explored widely in research but rarely using solid electrolytes.

Manganese Dioxide Supported on Porous Biomorphic Carbons as Hybrid Materials for Energy Storage Devices.

A facile and low-cost method has been employed to fabricate MnO/C hybrid materials for use as binder-free electrodes for supercapacitor applications. Biocarbon monoliths were obtained through pyrolysis of beech wood, replicating the microstructure of the cellulosic precursor, and serve as 3D porous and conductive scaffolds for the direct growth of MnO nanosheets by a solution method. Evaluation of the experimental results indicates that a homogeneous and uniform composite material made of a carbon matrix exhibiting ordered hierarchical porosity and MnO nanosheets with a layered nanocrystalline structure is obtained.

Electrochemical Energy Storage Applications of CVD Grown Niobium Oxide Thin Films.

We report here on the controlled synthesis, characterization, and electrochemical properties of different polymorphs of niobium pentoxide grown by CVD of new single-source precursors. Nb2O5 films deposited at different temperatures showed systematic phase evolution from low-temperature tetragonal (TT-Nb2O5, T-Nb2O5) to high temperature monoclinic modifications (H-Nb2O5). Optimization of the precursor flux and substrate temperature enabled phase-selective growth of Nb2O5 nanorods and films on conductive mesoporous biomorphic carbon matrices (BioC).