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). Nb2O5 thin films deposited on monolithic BioC scaffolds produced composite materials integrating the high surface area and conductivity of the carbonaceous matrix with the intrinsically high capacitance of nanostructured niobium oxide. Heterojunctions in Nb2O5/BioC composites were found to be beneficial in electrochemical capacitance. Electrochemical characterization of Nb2O5/BioC composites showed that small amounts of Nb2O5 (as low as 5%) in conjunction with BioCarbon resulted in a 7-fold increase in the electrode capacitance, from 15 to 104 F g(-1), while imparting good cycling stability, making these materials ideally suited for electrochemical energy storage applications.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.6b03945 | DOI Listing |
ACS Energy Lett
January 2025
George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States.
The global lithium-ion battery recycling capacity needs to increase by a factor of 50 in the next decade to meet the projected adoption of electric vehicles. During this expansion of recycling capacity, it is unclear which technologies are most appropriate to reduce costs and environmental impacts. Here, we describe the current and future recycling capacity situation and summarize methods for quantifying costs and environmental impacts of battery recycling methods with a focus on cathode active materials.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Energy Lett
January 2025
Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lynby 2800, Denmark.
We discuss the challenges associated with achieving high energy efficiency in electrochemical ammonia synthesis at near-ambient conditions. The current Li-mediated process has a theoretical maximum energy efficiency of ∼28%, since Li deposition gives rise to a very large effective overpotential. As a starting point toward finding electrocatalysts with lower effective overpotentials, we show that one reason why Li and alkaline earth metals work as N reduction electrocatalysts at ambient conditions is that the thermal elemental processes, N dissociation and NH desorption, are both facile at room temperature for these metals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Nano
January 2025
School of Physical Science and Technology, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai 201210, China.
Sulfurized polyacrylonitrile (SPAN) exhibits a very high cycle stability by overcoming the shuttle effect of conventional Li-S batteries. However, there are still controversies in SPAN about the bonding types of sulfur with the matrix, their critical synthesis temperature regions, and their roles in the electrochemical lithium storage reaction, seriously hindering the economical synthesis of SPAN, the optimization of performances, and the exploration of other SPAN-like alternatives. The key to solving the above problems lies in accurate measurements of the thermodynamic evolution of bonding interactions in the synthesis process as well as in the electrochemical process.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Am Chem Soc
January 2025
Liquid Sunlight Alliance, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720, United States.
The electrochemical CO reduction reaction (CORR) holds enormous potential as a carbon-neutral route to the sustainable production of fuels and platform chemicals. The durability for long-term operation is currently inadequate for commercialization, however, and the underlying deactivation process remains elusive. A fundamental understanding of the degradation mechanism of electrocatalysts, which can dictate the overall device performance, is needed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdv Mater
January 2025
School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, The University of Sydney, Darlington, New South Wales, 2006, Australia.
Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a cornerstone of various electrochemical energy conversion and storage systems, including water splitting, CO/N reduction, reversible fuel cells, and rechargeable metal-air batteries. OER typically proceeds through three primary mechanisms: adsorbate evolution mechanism (AEM), lattice oxygen oxidation mechanism (LOM), and oxide path mechanism (OPM). Unlike AEM and LOM, the OPM proceeds via direct oxygen-oxygen radical coupling that can bypass linear scaling relationships of reaction intermediates in AEM and avoid catalyst structural collapse in LOM, thereby enabling enhanced catalytic activity and stability.
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