Biphenyl-Bridged Organosilica as a Precursor for Mesoporous Silicon Oxycarbide and Its Application in Lithium and Sodium Ion Batteries

Abstract

Silicon oxycarbides (SiOC) are an interesting alternative to state-of-the-art lithium battery anode materials, such as graphite, due to potentially higher capacities and rate capabilities. Recently, it was also shown that this class of materials shows great prospects towards sodium ion batteries. Yet, bulk SiOCs are still severely restricted with regard to their electrochemical performance. In the course of this work, a novel and facile strategy towards the synthesis of mesoporous and carbon-rich SiOC will be presented. To achieve this goal, 4,4′-bis(triethoxysilyl)-1,1′-biphenyl was sol–gel processed in the presence of the triblock copolymer Pluronic P123. After the removal of the surfactant using Soxhlet extraction the organosilica material was subsequently carbonized under an inert gas atmosphere at 1000 °C. The resulting black powder was able to maintain all structural features and the porosity of the initial organosilica precursor making it an interesting candidate as an anode material for both sodium and lithium ion batteries. To get a detailed insight into the electrochemical properties of the novel material in the respective battery systems, electrodes from the nanostructured SiOC were studied in half-cells with galvanostatic charge/discharge measurements. It will be shown that nanostructuring of SiOC is a viable strategy in order to outperform commercially applied competitors.

Lipase-Catalyzed Chemoselective Ester Hydrolysis of Biomimetically Coupled Aryls for the Synthesis of Unsymmetric Biphenyl Esters

“…Biphenyl esters have been reported as important building blocks for the development of pharmaceuticals in diverse indication areas, and for use in a wide range of technical applications [4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18]. In order to allow an inexpensive, environmentally friendly, and efficient access to biphenyl ester core moieties, we adopted a biomimetic iron(III)-catalyzed, solid-phase coupling reaction.…”

“…No study has yet been reported for the selective transformation of biphenyl-based esters using lipase biocatalysis. Biphenyl-based building blocks with ester functions represent an important class of precursors that give rise to compounds with anti-infective, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer potencies [4,5,6,7,8,9,10], as well as in technical applications, such as in solar cells, where they are used as linkers for dyes [11] and hole transport materials [12], in metal organic frameworks for gas storage [13], and as catalysts [13,14] in lithium ion batteries [15] or rectification devices [16], in nanocomposite thin films for use in organic light emitting diodes (OLED) [17], or even as material in HPLC columns for the isolation of aromatic compounds [18]. Chemoselective hydrolysis and subsequent functionalization of biphenyl ester-based compounds therefore allow the generation of tailored molecules with increased potency and selectivity for their biological targets, improved bioavailability (absorption-distribution-metabolism-excretion-toxicity, ADMET) profiles, or unique magnetic or electronic properties.…”

A perspective on silicon-based polymer-derived ceramics materials for beyond lithium-ion batteries

“…SiOC composites (e.g. with High-capacity PDC materials, and their respective reversible capacities at determined number of cycles, reported in the literature as the anodes of SIBs [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][23][24][25][26], as the cathodes of LSBs [19,[27][28][29], and as the precursor for anodes of PIBs [22]. Inset: Capacitance retained after cycling tests of supercapacitors using PDC materials as their electrodes [30][31][32][33][34].…”

“…Sb, Sn, etc) have shown higher reversible capacity [14][15][16] than that of SiOC [17][18][19], in which SiOC works as a buffer material to volume expansion of alloy materials and prevents capacity fading. In addition, Weinberg et al reported carbide-derived carbon (CDC) obtained from PDC as the anode of SIBs [19].…”

A review of silicon oxycarbide ceramics as next generation anode materials for lithium-ion batteries and other electrochemical applications

“…A number of other factors have also been reported to influence the energy storage mechanisms of SiOCs, including the amount of free carbon, the fraction of tetrahedral units, and the porosity. 26–29…”