Nanoporous Tin with a Granular Hierarchical Ligament Morphology as a Highly Stable Li-Ion Battery Anode.

Next generation Li-ion batteries will require negative electrode materials with energy densities many-fold higher than that found in the graphitic carbon currently used in commercial Li-ion batteries. While various nanostructured alloying-type anode materials may satisfy that requirement, such materials do not always exhibit long cycle lifetimes and/or their processing routes are not always suitable for large-scale synthesis. Here, we report on a high-performance anode material for next generation Li-ion batteries made of nanoporous Sn powders with hierarchical ligament morphology.

Nanoparticles of Low-Valence Vanadium Oxyhydroxides: Reaction Mechanisms and Polymorphism Control by Low-Temperature Aqueous Chemistry.

An aqueous synthetic route at 95 °C is developed to reach selectively three scarcely reported vanadium oxyhydroxides. Häggite VO(OH), Duttonite VO(OH), and Gain's hydrate VO(HO) are obtained as nanowires, nanorods, and nanoribbons, with sizes 1 order of magnitude smaller than previously reported. X-ray absorption spectroscopy provides evidence that vanadium in these phases is V.