Carbon with Expanded and Well-Developed Graphene Planes Derived Directly from Condensed Lignin as a High-Performance Anode for Sodium-Ion Batteries.

In this study, we demonstrate that lignin, which constitutes 30-40 wt % of the terrestrial lignocellulosic biomass and is produced from second generation biofuel plants as a cheap byproduct, is an excellent precursor material for sodium-ion battery (NIB) anodes. Because it is rich in aromatic monomers that are highly cross-linked by ether and condensed bonds, the lignin material carbonized at 1300 °C (C-1300) in this study has small graphitic domains with well-developed graphene layers, a large interlayer spacing (0.403 nm), and a high micropore surface area (207.

Inverse Photonic Glasses by Packing Bidisperse Hollow Microspheres with Uniform Cores.

A major fabrication challenge is producing disordered photonic materials with an angle-independent structural red color. Theoretical work has shown that such a color can be produced by fabricating inverse photonic glasses with monodisperse, nontouching voids in a silica matrix. Here, we demonstrate a route toward such materials and show that they have an angle-independent red color.

Effect of multi-polar magnetic field on the properties of nanocrystalline silicon thin film deposited by internal-type inductively coupled plasma.

An internal linear-type inductively coupled plasma (ICP) source with multi-polar permanent magnets was used to deposit nanocrystalline silicon thin films on a large-area substrate (470 mm x 370 mm), and the effects of a magnetic field on the characteristics of the plasma and deposited film were investigated. By applying the magnetic field, it was possible to obtain a high-density plasma of 2.8 x 10(11) cm(-3) at 15 mTorr Ar and 4000 W of RF power, which is about 50% higher than was obtained for the source without the magnetic field.