Electrochemical Properties of a Lithium-Impregnated Metal Foam Anode (LIMFA Fecral) for Molten Salt Thermal Batteries

Abstract Although numerous cathode materials with excellent properties have been developed for use in molten salt thermal batteries, similar progress is yet to be made with anode materials. Herein, a high-performance lithium-impregnated metal foam anode (LIMFA) is fabricated by impregnating molten lithium into a gold-coated iron–chrome–aluminum (FeCrAl) foam at 400°C. A test cell employing the LIMFA FeCrAl anode exhibited a specific capacity of 2,627 As·g−1. For comparison, a cell with a conventional Li(Si) anode was also discharged, demonstrating a specific capacity of 982 As·g−1. This significant improvement in performance can be attributed to the large amount (18 wt.%) of lithium incorporated into the FeCrAl foam and the ability of the FeCrAl foam to absorb and immobilize molten lithium without adopting a cup system. For thermal batteries without a cup, the LIMFA FeCrAl provides the highest-reported specific capacity and a flat discharge voltage curve of molten lithium. After cell discharge, the FeCrAl foam exhibited no lithium leakage, surface damage, or structural collapse. Given these advantageous properties, in addition to its high specific capacity, LIMFA FeCrAl is expected to aid the development of thermal batteries with enhanced performance.

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Synthesis of Bi2S3/MoS2 Nanorods and Their Enhanced Electrochemical Performance for Aluminum Ion Batteries

Journal of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage ◽

10.1115/1.4045784 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Shimeng Zhao ◽

Jialin Li ◽

Haixia Chen ◽

Jianxin Zhang

Keyword(s):

Cathode Materials ◽

High Performance ◽

Low Cost ◽

Specific Capacity ◽

Discharge Voltage ◽

Aluminum Ion ◽

High Charge Density ◽

Initial Charge ◽

New Type ◽

The Stability

Abstract Rechargeable aluminum ion batteries (AIBs) have attracted much attention because of their high charge density, low cost, and low flammability. Transition metal sulfides are a class of cathode materials that have been extensively studied. In this report, Bi2S3 nanorods and Bi2S3/MoS2 nanorods were synthesized by the hydrothermal method as new type of cathode materials for rechargeable AIBs. The diameter of Bi2S3/MoS2 nanorods is 20–100 nm. The Bi2S3 nanorods display high initial charge and discharge capacities of 343.3 and 251 mA h/g with a current density of 1 A/g. The static cycling for the Bi2S3/MoS2 nanorods electrode at 1 A/g denotes high stability with a specific capacity of 132.9 mA h/g after 100 cycles. The charging voltage platform of Bi2S3 nanorods and Bi2S3/MoS2 nanorods is at 1.1–1.4 V, and the discharge voltage platform is at around 0.8 V. The well-defined heterojunction maintains the stability of the Bi2S3 structure during long-term cycling, which is desirable for aluminum ion batteries. This strategy reveals new insights for designing cathode materials of high-performance AIBs.

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Efficient Catalytic Conversion of Polysulfides by Biomimetic Design of “Branch-Leaf” Electrode for High-Energy Sodium–Sulfur Batteries

Nano-Micro Letters ◽

10.1007/s40820-020-00563-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Wenyan Du ◽

Kangqi Shen ◽

Yuruo Qi ◽

Wei Gao ◽

Mengli Tao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Active Sites ◽

High Performance ◽

Electrochemical Reaction ◽

Molecular Layer ◽

Specific Capacity ◽

High Energy ◽

Reduction Reaction ◽

Biomimetic Design ◽

Co Nanoparticles ◽

Sodium Sulfur

AbstractRechargeable room temperature sodium–sulfur (RT Na–S) batteries are seriously limited by low sulfur utilization and sluggish electrochemical reaction activity of polysulfide intermediates. Herein, a 3D “branch-leaf” biomimetic design proposed for high performance Na–S batteries, where the leaves constructed from Co nanoparticles on carbon nanofibers (CNF) are fully to expose the active sites of Co. The CNF network acts as conductive “branches” to ensure adequate electron and electrolyte supply for the Co leaves. As an effective electrocatalytic battery system, the 3D “branch-leaf” conductive network with abundant active sites and voids can effectively trap polysulfides and provide plentiful electron/ions pathways for electrochemical reaction. DFT calculation reveals that the Co nanoparticles can induce the formation of a unique Co–S–Na molecular layer on the Co surface, which can enable a fast reduction reaction of the polysulfides. Therefore, the prepared “branch-leaf” CNF-L@Co/S electrode exhibits a high initial specific capacity of 1201 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C and superior rate performance.

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Enhanced Reversible Zinc Ion Intercalation in Deficient Ammonium Vanadate for High-Performance Aqueous Zinc-Ion Battery

Nano-Micro Letters ◽

10.1007/s40820-021-00641-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Quan Zong ◽

Wei Du ◽

Chaofeng Liu ◽

Hui Yang ◽

Qilong Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

High Performance ◽

Coulombic Efficiency ◽

Specific Capacity ◽

Interlayer Spacing ◽

Zinc Ion ◽

Carbon Cloth ◽

High Specific Capacity ◽

Irreversible Reaction ◽

Ammonium Vanadate ◽

Structure Degradation

AbstractAmmonium vanadate with bronze structure (NH4V4O10) is a promising cathode material for zinc-ion batteries due to its high specific capacity and low cost. However, the extraction of $${\text{NH}}_{{4}}^{ + }$$ NH 4 + at a high voltage during charge/discharge processes leads to irreversible reaction and structure degradation. In this work, partial $${\text{NH}}_{{4}}^{ + }$$ NH 4 + ions were pre-removed from NH4V4O10 through heat treatment; NH4V4O10 nanosheets were directly grown on carbon cloth through hydrothermal method. Deficient NH4V4O10 (denoted as NVO), with enlarged interlayer spacing, facilitated fast zinc ions transport and high storage capacity and ensured the highly reversible electrochemical reaction and the good stability of layered structure. The NVO nanosheets delivered a high specific capacity of 457 mAh g−1 at a current density of 100 mA g−1 and a capacity retention of 81% over 1000 cycles at 2 A g−1. The initial Coulombic efficiency of NVO could reach up to 97% compared to 85% of NH4V4O10 and maintain almost 100% during cycling, indicating the high reaction reversibility in NVO electrode.

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Sulfurized Polyacrylonitrile for High-Performance Lithium Sulfur Batteries: Advances and Prospects

Journal of Materials Chemistry A ◽

10.1039/d1ta03300j ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Xiaohui Zhao ◽

Chonglong Wang ◽

Ziwei Li ◽

Xuechun Hu ◽

Amir A. Razzaq ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Energy Density ◽

High Performance ◽

Specific Capacity ◽

Rechargeable Batteries ◽

Next Generation ◽

Lithium Sulfur Batteries ◽

Theoretical Specific Capacity ◽

Lithium Sulfur

The lithium sulfur (Li-S) batteries have a high theoretical specific capacity (1675 mAh g-1) and energy density (2600 Wh kg-1), exerting a high perspective as the next-generation rechargeable batteries for...

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One-Pot Synthesis of Glucose-Derived Carbon Coated Ni3S2 Nanowires as a Battery-Type Electrode for High Performance Supercapacitors

Nanomaterials ◽

10.3390/nano11030678 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 678

Author(s):

Zhongkai Wu ◽

Haifu Huang ◽

Wenhui Xiong ◽

Shiming Yang ◽

Huanhuan Huang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Carbon Source ◽

High Performance ◽

Specific Capacity ◽

Rate Capability ◽

One Pot ◽

Great Performance ◽

Carbon Coated ◽

Binder Free ◽

Coated Carbon ◽

Supercapacitor Applications

We report a novel Ni3S2 carbon coated (denoted as NCC) rod-like structure prepared by a facile one-pot hydrothermal method and employ it as a binder free electrode in supercapacitor. We coated carbon with glucose as carbon source on the surface of samples and investigated the suitable glucose concentration. The as-obtained NCC rod-like structure demonstrated great performance with a huge specific capacity of 657 C g−1 at 1 A g−1, preeminent rate capability of 87.7% retention, the current density varying to 10 A g−1, and great cycling stability of 76.7% of its original value through 3500 cycles, which is superior to the properties of bare Ni3S2. The result presents a facile, general, viable strategy to constructing a high-performance material for the supercapacitor applications.

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Molten Lithium-Brass/Zinc Chloride System as High-Performance and Low-Cost Battery

Matter ◽

10.1016/j.matt.2020.08.022 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (5) ◽

pp. 1714-1724

Author(s):

Kai Liu ◽

Jialiang Lang ◽

Minzheng Yang ◽

Jing Xu ◽

Bin Sun ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Zinc Chloride ◽

High Performance ◽

Low Cost ◽

Chloride System ◽

Molten Lithium

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Porous Carbon Architecture Assembled by Cross-Linked Carbon Leaves with Implanted Atomic Cobalt for High-Performance Li–S Batteries

Nano-Micro Letters ◽

10.1007/s40820-021-00676-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Ruirui Wang ◽

Renbing Wu ◽

Chaofan Ding ◽

Ziliang Chen ◽

Hongbin Xu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Active Sites ◽

High Performance ◽

Specific Capacity ◽

Three Dimension ◽

Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework ◽

Shuttle Effect ◽

Promising Solution ◽

Fading Rate ◽

Kinetics Of ◽

Sulfur Cathodes

AbstractThe practical application of lithium–sulfur batteries is severely hampered by the poor conductivity, polysulfide shuttle effect and sluggish reaction kinetics of sulfur cathodes. Herein, a hierarchically porous three-dimension (3D) carbon architecture assembled by cross-linked carbon leaves with implanted atomic Co–N4 has been delicately developed as an advanced sulfur host through a SiO2-mediated zeolitic imidazolate framework-L (ZIF-L) strategy. The unique 3D architectures not only provide a highly conductive network for fast electron transfer and buffer the volume change upon lithiation–delithiation process but also endow rich interface with full exposure of Co–N4 active sites to boost the lithium polysulfides adsorption and conversion. Owing to the accelerated kinetics and suppressed shuttle effect, the as-prepared sulfur cathode exhibits a superior electrochemical performance with a high reversible specific capacity of 695 mAh g−1 at 5 C and a low capacity fading rate of 0.053% per cycle over 500 cycles at 1 C. This work may provide a promising solution for the design of an advanced sulfur-based cathode toward high-performance Li–S batteries.

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Li2(BH4)(NH2) Nanoconfined in SBA-15 as Solid-State Electrolyte for Lithium Batteries

Nanomaterials ◽

10.3390/nano11040946 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 946

Author(s):

Qianyi Yang ◽

Fuqiang Lu ◽

Yulin Liu ◽

Yijie Zhang ◽

Xiujuan Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solid State ◽

High Performance ◽

Coulombic Efficiency ◽

Specific Capacity ◽

Transference Number ◽

Electrochemical Stability ◽

Ion Conductivity ◽

Solid State Batteries ◽

Li Ion ◽

Conduction Properties

Solid electrolytes with high Li-ion conductivity and electrochemical stability are very important for developing high-performance all-solid-state batteries. In this work, Li2(BH4)(NH2) is nanoconfined in the mesoporous silica molecule sieve (SBA-15) using a melting–infiltration approach. This electrolyte exhibits excellent Li-ion conduction properties, achieving a Li-ion conductivity of 5.0 × 10−3 S cm−1 at 55 °C, an electrochemical stability window of 0 to 3.2 V and a Li-ion transference number of 0.97. In addition, this electrolyte can enable the stable cycling of Li|Li2(BH4)(NH2)@SBA-15|TiS2 cells, which exhibit a reversible specific capacity of 150 mAh g−1 with a Coulombic efficiency of 96% after 55 cycles.

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