Publications by authors named "John P Alper"

Using Si as anode materials for Li-ion batteries remain challenging due to its morphological evolution and SEI modification upon cycling. The present work aims at developing a composite consisting of carbon-coated Si nanoparticles (Si@C NPs) intimately embedded in a three-dimensional (3D) graphene hydrogel (GHG) architecture to stabilize Si inside LiB electrodes. Instead of simply mixing both components, the novelty of the synthesis procedure lies in the in situ hydrothermal process, which was shown to successfully yield graphene oxide reduction, 3D graphene assembly production, and homogeneous distribution of Si@C NPs in the GHG matrix.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Carbon coatings can help to stabilize the electrochemical performance of high-energy anodes using silicon nanoparticles as the active material. In this work, the comparison of the behavior and chemical composition of the Solid Electrolyte Interphase (SEI) was carried out between Si nanoparticles and carbon-coated Si nanoparticles (Si@C). A combination of two complementary analytical techniques, Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), was used to determine the intrinsic characteristics of the SEI.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Silicon is a promising material for high-energy anode materials for the next generation of lithium-ion batteries. The gain in specific capacity depends highly on the quality of the Si dispersion and on the size and shape of the nano-silicon. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of the size/shape of Si on the electrochemical performance of conventional Li-ion batteries.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We demonstrate a symmetric supercapacitor by using yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) as the electrolyte and silicon carbide nanowires (SiC NWs) as the electrode. The stacked symmetric SiC NWs/YSZ/SiC NWs supercapacitors exhibit excellent thermal stability and high areal capacitance at temperatures above 300 °C. The supercapacitor functions well at a record high temperature of 450 °C, yielding an areal capacitance of 92 μF cm(-2) at a voltage scan rate of 100 mV s(-1).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Microsupercapacitors are attractive energy storage devices for integration with autonomous microsensor networks due to their high-power capabilities and robust cycle lifetimes. Here, we demonstrate porous silicon nanowires synthesized via a lithography compatible low-temperature wet etch and encapsulated in an ultrathin graphitic carbon sheath, as electrochemical double layer capacitor electrodes. Specific capacitance values reaching 325 mF cm(-2) are achieved, representing the highest specific ECDL capacitance for planar microsupercapacitor electrode materials to date.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We present for the first time the growth of dense arrays of silicon and silicon carbide nanowires directly on graphene as well as methods of transferring these novel hybrids to arbitrary substrates. Improved electrical contact for SiC nanowire/graphene hybrid is demonstrated in the application of a robust supercapacitor electrode.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Warning

Message: fopen(/var/lib/php/sessions/ci_sessionn87i657ukb97ctrstnd6cnjdd116cvo9): Failed to open stream: No space left on device

Filename: drivers/Session_files_driver.php

Line Number: 177

Backtrace:

File: /var/www/html/index.php
Line: 316
Function: require_once

A PHP Error was encountered

Severity: Warning

Message: session_start(): Failed to read session data: user (path: /var/lib/php/sessions)

Filename: Session/Session.php

Line Number: 137

Backtrace:

File: /var/www/html/index.php
Line: 316
Function: require_once