Novel Strategy for the Formulation of High-Energy-Density Cathodes via Porous Carbon for Li-S Batteries.

Porous carbon is considered an attractive host material for high-energy sulfur electrodes. This study concerns the design of a porous carbon-based sulfur electrode for the formulation of high-energy Li-S batteries. The porous carbon is impregnated with up to 80 vol.

Development of titanium 3D mesh interlayer for enhancing the electrochemical performance of zinc-bromine flow battery.

Zinc dendrite growth negatively affects zinc-bromine flow battery (ZBB) performance by causing membrane damage, inducing self-discharge. Herein, in a ZBB, a conventional polymer mesh was replaced with a titanium-based mesh interlayer; this provided additional abundant active sites for the Zn/Zn redox reaction and well-developed electrolyte flow channels, which resulted in improved reaction kinetics and suppressed Zn dendrite growth. Compared with a ZBB cell comprising a conventional polymer mesh and a carbon-based electrode, the ZBB cell using the titanium mesh interlayer and a carbon-based electrode showed significantly reduced frequency of the refreshing process, which occurs at regular cycling intervals during practical use for removing residual zinc dendrites in ZBB; also, the average energy efficiency at a current density of 40 mA cm increased by 38.

Electrospun three-dimensional mesoporous silicon nanofibers as an anode material for high-performance lithium secondary batteries.

Mesoporous silicon nanofibers (m-SiNFs) have been fabricated using a simple and scalable method via electrospinning and reduction with magnesium. The prepared m-SiNFs have a unique structure in which clusters of the primary Si nanoparticles interconnect to form a secondary three-dimensional mesoporous structure. Although only a few nanosized primary Si particles lead to faster electronic and Li(+) ion diffusion compared to tens of nanosized Si, the secondary nanofiber structure (a few micrometers in length) results in the uniform distribution of the nanoparticles, allowing for the easy fabrication of electrodes.

Robust cycling of Li-O2 batteries through the synergistic effect of blended electrolytes.

Despite their exceptionally large specific capacities, the use of Li-O2 batteries has been limited because of their poor cycle lives, which originates from irreversible reaction processes during each cycle. Recent investigations have found that electrolyte decomposition is one of the most critical reasons for capacity decay. Herein, we report that a blended electrolyte, consisting of a carbonate solvent and an ionic liquid, improves the cycle lives of Li-O2 batteries remarkably through a synergistic effect from both components.