Construction of Mn-Zn binary carbonate microspheres on interconnected rGO networks: creating an atomic-scale bimetallic synergy for enhancing lithium storage properties.

Transition metal carbonates (TMCs), as promising anode materials for high-performance lithium ion batteries, possess the advantages of abundant natural resources and high electrochemical activity; however, they suffer from poor Li+/e- conductivities and serious volume changes during the charge/discharge process. Constructing multicomponent carbonates by introducing binary metal atoms, as well as designing a robust structure at the micro and nanoscales, could efficiently address the above problems. Therefore, single-phase MnxZn1-xCO3 microspheres anchored on 3D conductive networks of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) are facilely synthesized via a one-pot hydrothermal method without any structure-directing agents or surfactants.

Controllable synthesis of mesoporous carbon microspheres with renewable water glass as a template for lithium-sulfur batteries.

Mesoporous carbon microspheres (MCMs) were prepared via a spray drying-assisted template method using resorcinol-formaldehyde as the carbon precursor and water glass as the template. The pore structure could be controlled by adjusting the hydrolysis time, hydrolysis temperature, concentration of the water glass and reactant ratio. Water glass could be recycled after use, making this strategy environmentally friendly and cost-effective.

Free-standing carbon nanofiber fabrics for high performance flexible supercapacitor.

Free-standing carbon nanofiber fabrics with high surface area and good flexibility were prepared via a combined electrospinning and nanocasting method using low molecular weight phenolic resol as carbon precursor and partial-hydrolyzed tetraethyl orthosilicate as template, followed by carbonization and silica removal. The key to our strategy lies in the formation of a stable electrospinning solution derived from the polycondensation of partial-hydrolyzed TEOS in mild hydrolysis with low molecular phenolic resol and PVB which could decrease the gelation rate to benefit for the steady electrospinning process of preparing large area hybrid nanofiber fabrics. The obtained carbons possess high specific surface area up to 2292 m/g with a large pore volume of 1.