Synthesis of nanostructured zirconium monosilicide via a lithium thermal reduction route at low temperature

Abstract

In this paper, orthorhombic phase zirconium monosilicide nanomaterials have been successfully synthesized through a lithium thermal reduction in a stainless-steel autoclave at a low temperature of 600 0C. X-ray diffraction indicates that the obtained product is orthorhombic zirconium monosilicide. Scanning electron microscopy shows that the obtained zirconium monosilicide product consists of nanoparticles and nanorods. The oxidation resistance of the obtained zirconium monosilicide product is investigated.

Nanoporous germanium prepared by a mechanochemical reaction with enhanced lithium storage properties

“…Inspired by the low temperature synthesis of porous and nanostructured materials, 33–36 in this paper, nanoporous Ge (Z–Ge) was prepared through a simple mechanochemical-etching two-step reaction with Mg 2 Ge and ZnCl 2 . The prepared nanoporous Ge nanoparticles, as the anode for Li–Ge half cells, showed superior LIB performance, in terms of a high capacity of 1002.8 mA h g −1 at 2.0 C with a good long-term stability of 700 cycles, and a superior rate capability of 751.1 mA h g −1 even at 10 C. Significantly, the mechanochemical reaction was extended to produce other nanoporous Ge or Si materials such as A–Ge, Z–Si, and A–Si via the mechanochemical reaction between Mg 2 Ge and AlCl 3 , Mg 2 Si and ZnCl 2 , and Mg 2 Si and AlCl 3 .…”