Lithium-sulfur(Li-S) batteries belong to one of the promising technologies for high-energy-density rechargeable batteries.However,sulfur cathodes suffer from inherent problems of its poor electronic conductivity and the shuttling of highly dissoluble lithium polysulfides generated during the cycles.Loading sulfur into porous carbons has been proved to be an effective approach to alleviate these issues.Mesoporous and microporous carbons have been widely used for sulfur accommodation,but mesoporous carbons have poor sulfur confinement,whereas microporous carbons are impeded by low sulfur loading rates.Here,a core-shell carbon,combining both the merits of mesoporous carbon with large pore volume and microporous carbon with effective sulfur confinement,was prepared by coating the mesoporous CMK-3 with a microporous carbon(MPC) shell and served as the carbon host(CMK-3 @MPC) to accommodate sulfur.After sulfur infusion,the as-obtained S/(CMK-3@MPC) cathode delivered a high initial capacity of up to 1422 mAh·g^(-1) and sustained 654 mAh·g^(-1) reversible specific capacity after 36 cycles at 0.1 C.The good performance is ascribed to the unique core-shell structure of the CMK-3@MPC matrix,in which sulfur can be effectively confined within the meso/microporous carbon host,thus achieving simultaneously high electrochemical utilization.
The kesterite Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4(CZTSSe) is an ideal candidate for light harvesting materials in earth-abundant low-cost thinfilm solar cells(TFSC). Although the solution-based processing is a most promising approach to achieve low-cost solar cells with high power conversion efficiency, the issues of poor crystallinity and carbon residue in CZTSSe thin films are still challenging. Herein, a non-hydrazine solution-based method was reported to fabricate highly crystallized and carbon-free kesterite CZTSSe thin films. Interestingly, it was found that the synthetic atmosphere of metal organic precursors have a dramatic impact on the morphology and crystallinity of CZTSSe films. By optimizing the processing parameters, we were able to obtain a kesterite CZTSSe film composed of compact large crystal grains with trace carbon residues. Also, a viable reactive ion etching(RIE) processing with optimized etching conditions was then developed to successfully eliminate trace carbon residues on the surface of the CZTSSe film.
ZOU YuGangLIU JieZHANG XingJIANG YanHU JinSongWAN Li-Jun
Lithium-sulfur(Li-S) battery is a promising choice for the next generation of high-energy rechargeable batteries, but its application is impeded by the high dissolution of the polysulfides in commonly used organic electrolyte. Room temperature ionic liquids(RTILs) have been considered as appealing candidates for the electrolytes in Li-S batteries. We investigated the effect of cations in RTILs on the electrochemical performance for Li-S batteries. Ex situ investigation of lithium anode for Li-S batteries indicates that during the discharge/charge process the RTIL with N-methyl-N-propylpyrrolidine cations(P13) can effectively suppress the dissolution of the polysulfides, whereas the RTIL with 1-methyl-3-propyl imidazolium cation(PMIM) barely alleviates the shuttling problem. With 0.5 mol L-1 LiTFSI/P13 TFSI as the electrolyte of Li-S battery, the ketjen black/ sulfur cathode material exhibits high capacity and remarkable cycling stability, which promise the application of the P13-based RTILs in Li-S batteries.
Core-shell structured nanospheres with mesoporous silica shell and Ni core(denoted as Ni@meso-SiO2) are prepared through a three-step process. Monodispersed Ni precursors are first prepared, and then coated with mesoporous SiO2. Final Ni@meso-SiO2spheres are obtained after calcination. The products are characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and N2adsorption-desorption methods. These spheres have a high surface area and are well dispersed in water, showing a high catalytic activity with a TOF value of 18.5,and outstanding stability in hydrolytic dehydrogenation of ammonia borane at room temperature.
We have fabricated hybrid molecular chain structures formed by electron acceptor compound 1 and electron donor molecules 2 and 3 at the liquid/solid interface of graphite surface.The structural details of the mono-component and the binary assemblies are revealed by high resolution scanning tunneling microscopy (STM).Compound 1 can form two well-ordered lamellar patterns at different concentrations.In the co-adsorption structures,compounds 2 and 3 can insert into the space between molecular chains of compound 1 and form large area well-ordered nanoscale phase separated lamellar structures.The unit cell parameters for the coassemblies can be "flexibly" adjusted to make the electron donors and acceptors perfectly match along the molecular chains.Scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) results indicate that the electronic properties of individual molecular donors and acceptors are preserved in the binary self-assembly.These results provide molecular insight into the nanoscale phase separation of organic electron acceptors and donors on surfaces and are helpful for the fabrication of surface supramolecular structures and molecular devices.
SnO2 hollow spheres have been synthesized via a facile hydrothermal method using sulfonated polystyrene beads as a template followed by a calcination process in air.X-ray diffraction,scanning electron microscopy,and transmission electron microscopy show that the as-obtained SnO2 hollow spheres have a wall thickness of about 50 nm,and consist of nanosized SnO2 particles with a mean diameter of about 15 nm.Electrochemical measurements indicate that the SnO2 hollow spheres exhibit improved electrochemical performance in terms of specific capacity and rate capability in comparison with commercial SnO2 when used as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries.The enhanced performance may be attributed to the spherical and hollow structure,as well as the building blocks of SnO2 nanoparticles.
