Battery Energy最新文献

Precise exploitation of the growth of Zn metal anode in a power converter system has re-emerged as one of the technological interests that have surged globally in the past 5 years, specifically to improve the practical use of deep cycling metal batteries. In this review, the in situ architectures of aqueous Zn metal-based batteries focusing on the intrinsic geometrical building block and their respective mode of assembly classifying the deposition morphologies are scrutinised and discussed. The fundamental electrochemical kinetic principles and the associated critical issues, especially associated with the metal plague deposition that influences the morphology of deposited Zn, are considered. Also, the growing interest in the interphase system, which has an intense influence in characterising the types of Zn deposition morphology, is included. Consideration of the fundamental crystal features of Zn, endowing the predominant key for its growth assembly, is provided. Last, the review offers perspectives on the current progress of Zn–Air batteries in the application of electric vehicles.

It has been a long-standing challenge to cultivate capable and resilient oxygen electrocatalysts with higher activity, low price, and long lifetime to replace the commonly used platinum group metals, i.e., Pt for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and RuO₂/IrO₂ for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). This work presents a promising approach to address the challenges associated with oxygen electrocatalysis by introducing a cobalt phosphide/metallic cobalt (Co₂P/Co) core wrapped in a nitrogen-doped conductive carbon (CN) nano-shell, demonstrated as Co₂P/Co@NC. The strong chemical bonding between metallic cobalt and phosphorus, nitrogen and conductive carbon contributes to the enhanced conductivity and stability of the electrocatalyst. The nitrogen doping in the carbon shell provides additional Co–N active sites, which are crucial for ORR activity. Co₂P/Co@NC demonstrates promising activity and stability compared to noble metals such as Pt for ORR in an alkaline medium. This suggests its potential as a cost-effective alternative to Pt-based catalysts. Further, due to factors such as strong cobalt-phosphide bonding, high cobalt oxidation states and excellent conductivity of the nitrogen-doped carbon shell, the Co₂P/Co@NC outperforms noble metal oxides like iridium dioxide (IrO₂) and ruthenium dioxide (RuO₂) for OER. Co₂P/Co@NC exhibits a low potential difference of 0.63 V, which is among the lowest reported for bifunctional electrocatalysts capable of both ORR and OER. Overall, the described strategy offers a promising avenue for developing efficient, low-cost and stable electrocatalysts for oxygen reactions, which are crucial for various electrochemical energy conversion and storage technologies, such as fuel cells and metal–air batteries.

The synthesis of battery materials from biomass as feedstock is not only effective but also aligns with sustainable practices. However, current methods like slow pyrolysis/heating are both energy-intensive and economically impractical. Hence, integrating energy-efficient technologies becomes imperative to curtail substantial energy consumption and, consequently, minimize carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions during electricity usage. Herein, we employed a one-step pyrolysis/reduction based on the microwave heating method to synthesize a composite of high-purity silicon and highly graphitized carbon (Si@GC) from rice husk as feedstock. Compared to the conventional heating methods, the Si@GC samples prepared via the microwave heating method required less time (30–50 min). Benefiting from ultrahigh heating rates, the highly graphitized carbon and crystalline silicon composite was successfully synthesized. The synthesis by microwave irradiation showed homogenous material, excellent surface area, essential functional groups, and crystallinity revealing the outstanding reaction kinetics to form the material. The as-synthesized Si@GC composite anode material delivered a high discharge capacity of 799 mAh/g with high cyclic stability of ~71% over 120 cycles. The ex situ ToF-SIMS revealed great inorganic SEI composition, mainly consisting of the fluorinated species and carbonate species produced at the initial cycle. This investigation provides a novel rapid heating method for the synthesis of battery materials, which can also be extended for other materials and applications.

Back Cover: In article number BTE220240011, Jihun Jeon and co-workers have presented the origin of photon energy loss underlying high open-circuit voltage in ternary blend polymer solar cells. Adding a small amount of nonfullerene acceptor to fullerene-based binary device significantly reduces photon energy loss while maintaining the polymer/fullerene interface. This reduction is due to decreased radiative and nonradiative losses from a hidden charge transfer state and lower energetic disorder.

Front Cover: Metal Separators are crucial components in the development of rechargeable batteries. In article number BTE.20240015, Lei Wang, Kaifu Huo, and Xiaohui Wang et al., provide a concise summary and analysis of recent advancements in biomassbased functional separators for rechargeable batteries. These separators offer significant advantages due to their renewable and biodegradable nature, reducing environmental impact. Additionally, they provide improved ionic transport, thermal stability, and safety compared to conventional polyolefin-based separators. These separators contribute to a more sustainable energy storage solution by utilizing abundant biomass feedstocks and enhancing overall battery performance.

Photogalvanic solar cells are solar energy harvesting devices having inherent power storage capacity. Electrical output as 590 μA current, 183.3 μW power, and 1.95% efficiency is reported for the fructose/brilliant cresyl blue dye (a reductant/photosensitizer couple) at low illumination intensity. For exploring the feasibility of these cells for application, the reported electrical output needs further enhancement with the demonstration of workability in natural sunlight. With this aim, the modified fructose reductant-NaOH alkali-brilliant cresyl blue dye photosensitizer photogalvanic system has been studied using a surfactant with a very small Pt electrode in natural sunlight. Abruptly enhanced current (2300 μA), power (661 μW), and efficiency (8.26%) have been observed in the modified study. The study has shown that photogalvanic cells can work at high illumination intensity adhering to similar basic principles, which are apt for cells working at artificial and low-intensity illumination.

Understanding photon energy loss caused by the charge recombination in ternary blend polymer solar cells based on nonfullerene acceptors (NFAs) is crucial for achieving further improvements in their device performance. In such a ternary system, however, the two types of donor/acceptor interface coexist, making it more difficult to analyze the photon energy loss. Here, we have focused on the origin of the voltage loss behind a high open-circuit voltage (V_OC) in ternary blend devices based on one donor polymer (poly(2,5-bis(3-(2-butyloctyl)thiophen-2-yl)-thiazolo[5,4-d]thiazole) [PTzBT]) and two acceptors, including a fullerene derivative ([6,6]-phenyl-C₆₁-butyric acid methyl ester [PCBM]) and an NFA ((2,2′-((2Z,2′Z)-(((4,4,9,9-tetrakis(4-hexylphenyl)-4,9-dihydro-sindaceno[1,2-b:5,6-b′]dithiophene-2,7-diyl)bis(4-((2-ethylhexyl)oxy)thiophene-5,2-diyl))bis(methanylylidene))bis(5,6-difluoro-3-oxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-indene-2,1-diylidene))dimalononitrile) [IEICO-4F]), which exhibit V_OC similar to that of fullerene-based PTzBT/PCBM binary devices. From the temperature-dependent V_OC, we found that the effective interfacial bandgap is the same between them: the PTzBT/PCBM/IEICO-4F ternary blend device is the same as the PTzBT/PCBM fullerene-based binary device rather than the PTzBT/IEICO-4F nonfullerene-based binary device. This means that the recombination center of the ternary blend device is still the interface of PTzBT/PCBM regardless of the incorporation of a small amount of NFA. On the basis of detailed balance theory, we found that the radiative and nonradiative recombination voltage losses for PTzBT/PCBM/IEICO-4F ternary devices significantly reduced compared to those of fullerene-based PTzBT/PCBM binary counterparts. This is ascribed to the disappearance of charge transfer absorption due to overlap with the absorption of NFA and the reduction of energetic disorder due to the incorporation of NFA. Through this study, the role of NFAs in voltage loss is once again emphasized, and a ternary system capable of achieving high V_OC resulting from significantly reduced voltage loss in ternary blend solar cells is proposed. Therefore, we believe that this research proposes the guidelines that can further enhance the power conversion efficiency of polymer solar cells.

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have attracted a lot of attention owing to their low cost, as well as similar working mechanism and manufacturing technique to lithium-ion batteries. However, the practical application of SIBs is severely hindered by limited electrode materials. Disordered carbons are reported to be promising as anode materials for SIBs. Here, for the first time, calcium lignosulfonate (LSCa), one papermaking waste, is explored as a novel low-cost precursor for carbon materials of SIBs. The optimized LSCa-derived carbon delivers a high reversible capacity of 317 mA h g⁻¹ at 30 mA g⁻¹ with ~60% plateau capacity, and it retains a capacity of 170 mA h g⁻¹ even at 3000 mA g⁻¹. These achievements are ascribed to the larger d₀₀₂ values, smaller defects, and more closed pores, compared with the original sample from the direct carbonization of LSCa.

The global transition toward sustainable energy sources has prompted a paradigm shift in the field of energy storage. The separator is an important component in rechargeable batteries, which facilitates the rapid passage of ions and ensures the safety and efficiency of the electrochemical process by preventing direct contact between the anode and cathode. Traditional polyolefin-based separators induce environmental concerns due to their nonbiodegradable nature. Biomass-based separators derived from renewable sources such as plant fibers, agricultural waste, and biopolymers have emerged as promising alternatives to traditional polymer separators. In this review, we summarize the current state and development of biomass-based separators for high-performance batteries, including innovative manufacturing techniques, novel biomass materials, functionalization strategies, performance evaluation methods, and potential applications. The review also delves into the environmental impact and sustainability analysis of biomass-based separators, offering insights into the potential of biomass as the most sustainable resource for future energy storage solutions. This review could provide a holistic understanding of the advancements and potential of biomass-based separators, shedding light on the path toward sustainable and efficient energy storage based on biomass-derived separators.

Front Cover: Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), as a new type of functional materials, have received much attention in recent years. In article number BTE.20230074, Ben-jian Xin and Xing-long Wu summary and analyses the recent advances of MOFs in the field of sodium/potassium ion batteries (SIBs/PIBs). In addition, this paper describes the working principle, advantages and challenges of MOFs in SIBs/PIBs, strategies to improve the electrochemical performance. It provides some guidance for the future application of MOFs in SIBs/PIBs.