Carbon Nanomaterials in Different Dimensions for Electrochemical Energy Storage

Abstract

In spite of an ongoing advancement, current popular EES systems including Li-ion batteries (LIBs), supercapacitors (SCs), and redox flow cells (RFCs) are limited by severe performance challenges of electrode materials in terms of low energy and power density as well as short durability. To mitigate the issues, carbon nanomaterials could be introduced to these EES systems, taking advantage of their unique geometry, excellent conductivity, large surface area, and intrinsic flexibility. Numerous carbon nanomaterial based EES systems, where carbon nanomaterials are adopted as either conducting additive or active electrode, have been developed and demonstrated appealing energy and power features. With the capability to enhance the structural and electrochemical properties of electrodes, carbon nanomaterials and their derivatives offer a wide range of possibilities to design advanced EES devices that can meet our growing energy and power demands in the future.A number of reviews have been published in the past few years on the application of carbon nanomaterials in EES. [5][6][7][8] However, this area is so active and new works accumulate very quickly. Therefore, it is helpful to update the new designs and outcomes. This progress report will summarize the most exciting recent (from the year 2010 onwards) advances in the application of carbon nanomaterials with different dimensions, i.e., 0D fullerene, 1D CNT, 2D graphene, and 3D assemblies of CNT and graphene, in EES systems, and highlight the new trends in the field. Besides the repetitively reviewed LIBs and SCs, this work will also deal with another important system, the RFC, which has been rejuvenated recently and is becoming increasingly vital for large scale energy storage. The recent EES applications of carbon nanomaterials will be discussed based on their dimensions. Structure and Properties of Various Nanostructured CarbonFullerenes, CNTs, and graphene all present conjugated π electron systems. The unique electronic configuration combined with geometric structure endows them with extraordinary properties, which make them superior to their competitors for specific applications such as EES. 0D FullerenesFullerene normally has a hollow sphere or ellipsoid shape. Specifically, C 60 has a cage-like fused-ring structure (truncated Carbon nanomaterials including fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, graphene, and their assemblies represent a unique type of materials in diverse formats and dimensions. They feature a large surface area, superior conductivity, fast charge transport, and intrinsic stability, which are essentially required for vari ous electrochemical energy storage (EES) systems such as Li-ion batteries, supercapacitors, and redox flow cells. The scaled-up and reliable production and assembly of carbon nanomaterials is a prerequisite for the development of carbon nanomaterial-based EES devices. In this progress report, the preparation of carbon nanostructures and the state-of-the-art applications of carbon nanomaterials with different dimensions in versatile EES...

Electrolytes for Batteries with Earth‐Abundant Metal Anodes

“…Fortunately,p otassium alloys are better anode materials for potassium batteries. KPF 6 and KTFSI fail to sustain long-terms tability,w hereas KFSI enables highly reversible potassium plating/stripping electrochemistry.T hrough XPS and 1 Ha nd 19 FNMR spectroscopy investigations, they found that both KF and DME decomposition products formed the SEI layer.T hese components all contribute to the well-passivated potassium surface, and hence,l ead to ah ighly reversible cycle performance. Nevertheless, pure potassium anodesa re reported in the literatures for use in room-temperature potassium batteries, [17,[30][31][32] potassium-O 2 batteries, [33] and potassium-sulfur batteries.…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] In 1991, the commercialization of the lithium-ion battery (LIB) opened the door to high energy density storage of electricity. At the same time, human beings have lookedf or efficient energy-storage methods.…”

Manganese oxide electrode with excellent electrochemical performance for sodium ion batteries by pre-intercalation of K and Na ions

“…Among the available energy storage technologies 7–10 , battery is the best choice to store electricity in the form of chemical energy when considering the flexibility, convenience and energy conversion efficiency of device 11–13 . Lithium ion batteries have been studied most commonly as rechargeable batteries 14–18 and magnesium ion batteries 19, 20 , zinc ion batteries 21, 22 and aluminium ion batteries 23 have also been investigated.…”

Challenges and perspectives for manganese‐based oxides for advanced aqueous zinc‐ion batteries

“…CNTs have a tubular structure, showing a much high length‐to‐diameter ratio, typically several nanometers in diameter and many micrometers in length. Due to remarkable electroconductibility and large specific surface area, CNTs is supported to be a perfect conductive substrate for manganese‐based materials . Kang et al synthesized the MnO 2 nanorod/acid‐treated α‐CNT composites by coprecipitation way (Figure A), which displayed both excellent storage properties of 665 mAh/g at 0.1 A/g (400 mAh/g at 1A/g) and reversibility at various current rates (Figure B, C).…”