Effect of ionic liquids on stability of O/W miniemulsion for application of low emission coating products

Room temperature ionic liquids(RTILs) are non-volatile organic salts. They may replace conventional coalescing agents in latex coating thus reducing volatile organic compounds(VOCs) emission as well as improving performance of latex coating products such as better thermal stability, conductivity, and antifouling property. The formation of latex coating containing RTILs can be achieved by encapsulation of RTILs inside particles via miniemulsion polymerization. In this study, the role of RTILs and its concentration on stability of miniemulsion during storage and polymerization were investigated. It has been found that, above a critical concentration(10 wt%), adding more RTILs to oil phase may weaken miniemulsion stability during storage as well as polymerization. Such observations were consistent with the zeta potential measurement for miniemulsions prepared at the similar conditions. The results obtained here would be a useful guideline for the development of new waterborne coating products with desirable functions and particle sizes.

Nano-channel-based physical and chemical synergic regulation for dendrite-free lithium plating

Uncontrollable dendrite growth resulting from the non-uniform lithium ion(Li^(+))flux and volume expansion in lithium metal(Li)negative electrode leads to rapid performance degradation and serious safety problems of lithium metal batteries.Although N-containing functional groups in carbon materials are reported to be effective to homogenize the Li^(+)flux,the effective interaction distance between lithium ions and N-containing groups should be relatively small(down to nanometer scale)according to the Debye length law.Thus,it is necessary to carefully design the microstructure of N-containing carbon materials to make the most of their roles in regulating the Li^(+)flux.In this work,porous carbon nitride microspheres(PCNMs)with abundant nanopores have been synthesized and utilized to fabricate a uniform lithiophilic coating layer having hybrid pores of both the nano-and micrometer scales on the Cu/Li foil.Physically,the three-dimensional(3D)porous framework is favorable for absorbing volume changes and guiding Li growth.Chemically,this coating layer can render a suitable interaction distance to effectively homogenize the Li^(+)flux and contribute to establishing a robust and stable solid electrolyte interphase(SEI)layer with Li-F,Li-N,and Li-O-rich contents based on the Debye length law.Such a physical-chemical synergic regulation strategy using PCNMs can lead to dendrite-free Li plating,resulting in a low nucleation overpotential and stable Li plating/stripping cycling performance in both the Li||Cu and the Li||Li symmetric cells.Meanwhile,a full cell using the PCNM coated Li foil negative electrode and a LiFePO4 positive electrode has delivered a high capacity retention of~80%after more than 200 cycles at 1 C and achieved a remarkable rate capability.The pouch cell fabricated by pairing the PCNM coated Li foil negative electrode with a NCM 811 positive electrode has retained~73%of the initial capacity after 150 cycles at 0.2 C.

Carbon-emcoating architecture boosts lithium storage of Nb_(2)O_(5)

Intercalation transition metal oxides (ITMO)have attracted great attention as lithium-ion battery negative electrodes due to high operation safety,high capacity and rapid ion intercalation.However,the intrinsic low electron conductivity plagues the lifetime and cell performance of the ITMO negative electrode.Here we design a new carbon-emcoating architecture through single CO_(2)activation treatment as demonstrated by the Nb_(2)O_(5)/C nanohybrid.Triple structure engineering of the carbon-emcoating Nb_(2)O_(5)/C nanohybrid is achieved in terms of porosity,composition,and crystallographic phase.The carbon-embedding Nb_(2)O_(5)/C nanohybrids show superior cycling and rate performance compared with the conventional carbon coating,with reversible capacity of 387 m A h g(-1)at 0.2 C and 92%of capacity retained after 500cycles at 1 C.Differential electrochemical mass spectrometry(DEMS) indicates that the carbon emcoated Nb_(2)O_(5)nanohybrids present less gas evolution than commercial lithium titanate oxide during cycling.The unique carbon-emcoating technique can be universally applied to other ITMO negative electrodes to achieve high electrochemical performance.