Scalable Fracture-free SiOC Glass Coating for Robust Silicon Nanoparticle Anodes in Lithium Secondary Batteries

A variety of silicon (Si) nanostructures and their complex composites have been lately introduced in the lithium ion battery community to address the large volume changes of Si anodes during their repeated charge–discharge cycles. Nevertheless, for large-scale manufacturing it is more desirable to use commercial Si nanoparticles with simple surface coating. Most conductive coating materials, however, do not accommodate the volume expansion of the inner Si active phases and resultantly fracture during cycling. To overcome this chronic limitation, herein, we report silicon oxycarbide (SiOC) glass as a new coating material for Si nanoparticle anodes. The SiOC glass phase can expand to some extent due to its active nature in reacting with Li ions and can therefore accommodate the volume changes of the inner Si nanoparticles without disintegration or fracture. The SiOC glass also grows in the form of nanocluster to bridge Si nanoparticles, thereby contributing to the structural integrity of secondary particles during cycling. On the basis of these combined effects, the SiOC-coated Si nanoparticles reach a high reversible capacity of 2093 mAh g^–1 with 92% capacity retention after 200 cycles. Furthermore, the coating and subsequent secondary particle formation were produced by high-speed spray pyrolysis based on a single precursor solution

Spray Drying Method for Large-Scale and High-Performance Silicon Negative Electrodes in Li-Ion Batteries

Nanostructured silicon electrodes have shown great potential as lithium ion battery anodes because they can address capacity fading mechanisms originating from large volume changes of silicon alloys while delivering extraordinarily large gravimetric capacities. Nonetheless, synthesis of well-defined silicon nanostructures in an industrially adaptable scale still remains as a challenge. Herein, we adopt an industrially established spray drying process to enable scalable synthesis of silicon–carbon composite particles in which silicon nanoparticles are embedded in porous carbon particles. The void space existing in the porous carbon accommodates the volume expansion of silicon and thus addresses the chronic fading mechanisms of silicon anodes. The composite electrodes exhibit excellent electrochemical performance, such as 1956 mAh/g at 0.05C rate and 91% capacity retention after 150 cycles. Moreover, the spray drying method requires only 2 s for the formation of each particle and allows a production capability of ∼10 g/h even with an ultrasonic-based lab-scale equipment. This investigation suggests that established industrial processes could be adaptable to the production of battery active materials that require sophisticated nanostructures as well as large quantity syntheses

One-Dimensional Carbon–Sulfur Composite Fibers for Na–S Rechargeable Batteries Operating at Room Temperature

Na–S batteries are one type of molten salt battery and have been used to support stationary energy storage systems for several decades. Despite their successful applications based on long cycle lives and low cost of raw materials, Na–S cells require high temperatures above 300 °C for their operations, limiting their propagation into a wide range of applications. Herein, we demonstrate that Na–S cells with solid state active materials can perform well even at room temperature when sulfur-containing carbon composites generated from a simple thermal reaction were used as sulfur positive electrodes. Furthermore, this structure turned out to be robust during repeated (de)­sodiation for ∼500 cycles and enabled extraordinarily high rate performance when one-dimensional morphology is adopted using scalable electrospinning processes. The current study suggests that solid-state Na–S cells with appropriate atomic configurations of sulfur active materials could cover diverse battery applications where cost of raw materials is critical

Solution Processed Aluminum Paper for Flexible Electronics

As an alternative to vacuum deposition, preparation of highly conductive papers with aluminum (Al) features is successfully achieved by the solution process consisting of Al precursor ink (AlH₃{O­(C₄H₉)₂}) and low temperature stamping process performed at 110 °C without any serious hydroxylation and oxidation problems. Al features formed on several kinds of paper substrates (calendar, magazine, and inkjet printing paper substrates) are less than ∼60 nm thick, and their electrical conductivities were found to be as good as thermally evaporated Al film or even better (≤2 Ω/□). Strong adhesion of Al features to paper substrates and their excellent flexibility are also experimentally confirmed by TEM observation and mechanical tests, such as tape and bending tests. The solution processed Al features on paper substrates show different electrical and mechanical performance depending on the paper type, and inkjet printing paper is found to be the best substrate with high and stable electrical and mechanical properties. The Al conductive papers produced by the solution process may be applicable in disposal paper electronics

Restacking-Inhibited 3D Reduced Graphene Oxide for High Performance Supercapacitor Electrodes

Graphene has received considerable attention in both scientific and technological areas due to its extraordinary material properties originating from the atomically single- or small number-layered structure. Nevertheless, in most scalable solution-based syntheses, graphene suffers from severe restacking between individual sheets and thus loses its material identity and advantages. In the present study, we have noticed the intercalated water molecules in the dried graphene oxide (GO) as a critical mediator to such restacking and thus eliminated the hydrogen bonding involving the intercalated water by treating GO with melamine resin (MR) monomers. Upon addition of MR monomers, porous restacking-inhibited GO sheets precipitated, leading to the carbonaceous composite with an exceptionally large surface area of 1040 m²/g after a thermal treatment. Utilizing such high surface area, the final graphene composite exhibited excellent electrochemical performance as a supercapacitor electrode material: specific capacitance of 210 F/g, almost no capacitance loss for 20 000 cycles, and ∼7 s rate capability. The current study delivers a message that various condensation reactions engaging GO sheets can be a general synthetic approach for restacking-inhibited graphene in scalable solution processes

Lattice Water for the Enhanced Performance of Amorphous Iron Phosphate in Sodium-Ion Batteries

We report amorphous iron phosphate with lattice water, namely FePO₄·<i>x</i>H₂O (<i>x</i> ∼ 2.39), as a promising sodium-ion battery (SIB) cathode. After carbon coating, micrometer-sized FePO₄·<i>x</i>H₂O exhibits a reversible capacity that is higher than that of its counterpart without lattice water (130.0 vs 50.6 mAh g^–1 at 0.15<i>C</i> rate) along with clearly enhanced rate capability and cyclability. The superior electrochemical performance of FePO₄·<i>x</i>H₂O is attributed to the lattice water that facilitates sodium-ion diffusion via enlarged channel dimensions and the screening of the electrostatic interactions between sodium ions and host anions. The amorphous phase is also advantageous in accommodating the stress created in the host framework during sodium-ion (de)­intercalation. The presence of lattice water also protects the oxidation state of Fe from reductive surface carbon coating and slightly lowers the operation voltage via reduced inductive effect. The current study provides a useful insight into how to design SIB electrode materials particularly focusing on facile sodium-ion diffusion

Lithium–Sulfur Capacitors

Although many existing hybrid energy storage systems demonstrate promising electrochemical performances, imbalances between the energies and kinetics of the two electrodes must be resolved to allow their widespread commercialization. As such, the development of a new class of energy storage systems is a particular challenge, since future systems will require a single device to provide both a high gravimetric energy and a high power density. In this context, we herein report the design of novel lithium–sulfur capacitors. The resulting asymmetric systems exhibited energy densities of 23.9–236.4 Wh kg^–1 and power densities of 72.2–4097.3 W kg^–1, which are the highest reported values for an asymmetric system to date. This approach involved the use of a prelithiated anode and a hybrid cathode material exhibiting anion adsorption–desorption in addition to the electrochemical reduction and oxidation of sulfur at almost identical rates. This novel strategy yielded both high energy and power densities, and therefore establishes a new benchmark for hybrid systems

A Half Millimeter Thick Coplanar Flexible Battery with Wireless Recharging Capability

Most of the existing flexible lithium ion batteries (LIBs) adopt the conventional cofacial cell configuration where anode, separator, and cathode are sequentially stacked and so have difficulty in the integration with emerging thin LIB applications, such as smart cards and medical patches. In order to overcome this shortcoming, herein, we report a coplanar cell structure in which anodes and cathodes are interdigitatedly positioned on the same plane. The coplanar electrode design brings advantages of enhanced bending tolerance and capability of increasing the cell voltage by in series-connection of multiple single-cells in addition to its suitability for the thickness reduction. On the basis of these structural benefits, we develop a coplanar flexible LIB that delivers 7.4 V with an entire cell thickness below 0.5 mm while preserving stable electrochemical performance throughout 5000 (un)­bending cycles (bending radius = 5 mm). Also, even the pouch case serves as barriers between anodes and cathodes to prevent Li dendrite growth and short-circuit formation while saving the thickness. Furthermore, for convenient practical use wireless charging via inductive electromagnetic energy transfer and solar cell integration is demonstrated

A Half Millimeter Thick Coplanar Flexible Battery with Wireless Recharging Capability

Most of the existing flexible lithium ion batteries (LIBs) adopt the conventional cofacial cell configuration where anode, separator, and cathode are sequentially stacked and so have difficulty in the integration with emerging thin LIB applications, such as smart cards and medical patches. In order to overcome this shortcoming, herein, we report a coplanar cell structure in which anodes and cathodes are interdigitatedly positioned on the same plane. The coplanar electrode design brings advantages of enhanced bending tolerance and capability of increasing the cell voltage by in series-connection of multiple single-cells in addition to its suitability for the thickness reduction. On the basis of these structural benefits, we develop a coplanar flexible LIB that delivers 7.4 V with an entire cell thickness below 0.5 mm while preserving stable electrochemical performance throughout 5000 (un)­bending cycles (bending radius = 5 mm). Also, even the pouch case serves as barriers between anodes and cathodes to prevent Li dendrite growth and short-circuit formation while saving the thickness. Furthermore, for convenient practical use wireless charging via inductive electromagnetic energy transfer and solar cell integration is demonstrated

Hierarchical Porous Carbon by Ultrasonic Spray Pyrolysis Yields Stable Cycling in Lithium–Sulfur Battery

Utilizing the unparalleled theoretical capacity of sulfur reaching 1675 mAh/g, lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries have been counted as promising enablers of future lithium ion battery (LIB) applications requiring high energy densities. Nevertheless, most sulfur electrodes suffer from insufficient cycle lives originating from dissolution of lithium polysulfides. As a fundamental solution to this chronic shortcoming, herein, we introduce a hierarchical porous carbon structure in which meso- and macropores are surrounded by outer micropores. Sulfur was infiltrated mainly into the inner meso- and macropores, while the outer micropores remained empty, thus serving as a “barricade” against outward dissolution of long-chain lithium polysulfides. On the basis of this systematic design, the sulfur electrode delivered 1412 mAh/g_sulfur with excellent capacity retention of 77% after 500 cycles. Also, a control study suggests that even when sulfur is loaded into the outer micropores, the robust cycling performance is preserved by engaging small sulfur crystal structures (S_2–4). Furthermore, the hierarchical porous carbon was produced in ultrahigh speed by scalable spray pyrolysis. Each porous carbon particle was synthesized through 5 s of carrier gas flow in a reaction tube