KOH activated carbon derived from biomass-banana fibers as an efficient negative electrode in high performance asymmetric supercapacitor

Here we demonstrate the fabrication, electrochemical performance and application of an asymmetric supercapacitor (AS) device constructed with ss-Ni(OH)(2)/MWCNTs as positive electrode and KOH activated honeycomb-like porous carbon (K-PC) derived from banana fibers as negative electrode. Initially, the electrochemical performance of hydrothermally synthesized ss-Ni(OH)(2)/MWCNTs nanocomposite and K-PC was studied in a three-electrode system using 1 M KOH. These materials exhibited a specific capacitance (Cs) of 1327 Fig and 324 F/g respectively at a scan rate of 10 mV/s. Further, the AS device i.e., ss-Ni(OH)(2)/MWCNTs// K-PC in 1 M KOH solution, demonstrated a Cs of 156 F/g at scan rate of 10 mV/s in a broad cell voltage of 0-2.2 V. The device demonstrated a good rate capability by maintaining a Cs of 59 F/g even at high current density (25 A/g). The device also offered high energy density of 63 Wh/kg with maximum power density of 5.2 kW/kg. The AS device exhibited excellent cycle life with 100% capacitance retention at 5000th cycle at a high current density of 25 A/g. Two AS devices connected in series were employed for powering a pair of LEDs of different colors and also a mini fan. (C) 2016 Science Press and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press. All rights reserved.

New Activated Carbon with High Thermal Conductivity and Its Microwave Regeneration Performance

Using a walnut shellas a carbon source and ZnCl_2 as an activating agent,we resolved the temperature gradient problems of activated carbon in the microwave desorption process.An appropriate amount of silicon carbide was added to prepare the composite activated carbon with high thermalconductivity while developing VOC adsorption-microwave regeneration technology.The experimentalresults show that the coefficient of thermalconductivity of SiC-AC is three times as much as those of AC and SY-6.When microwave power was 480 W in its microwave desorption,the temperature of the bed thermaldesorption was 10 ℃ to 30 ℃ below that of normalactivated carbon prepared in our laboratory.The toluene desorption activation energy was 16.05 k J·mol^（-1）,which was 15% less than the desorption activation energy of commercialactivated carbon.This study testified that the process could maintain its high adsorption and regeneration desorption performances.

Secondary Activation of Commercial Activated Carbon and its Application in Electric Double Layer Capacitor

The cheap commercial activated carbon (AC) was improved through the secondary activation under steam in the presence of FeCl2 catalyst in the temperature range of 800-950℃ and its application in electric double layer capacitors (EDLCs) with organic electrolyte was studied. The re-activation of AC results in the increases in both specific capacitance and high rate capability of EDLCs. For AC treated under optimized conditions, its discharge specific capacitance increases up to 55.65 F/g, an increase of about 33% as compared to the original AC, and the high rate capability was increased significantly. The good performances of EDLC with improved AC were correlated to the increasing mesoporous ratio.

Characterization of porous cobalt hexacyanoferrate and activated carbon electrodes under dynamic polarization conditions in a sodium-ion pseudocapacitor

We report here the activated carbon and cobalt hexacyanoferrate composite,which is applied as the electrode materials in symmetric supercapacitors containing a 1.0 M Na_(2)SO_(4) aqueous electrolyte.This novel material combines high specific surface area and electrochemical stability of activated carbon with the redox properties of cobalt hexacyanoferrate,resulting in maximum specific capacitance of 329 F g^(-1) with large voltage working window of 2.0 V.Electrochemical studies indicated that cobalt hexacyanoferrate introduces important pseudocapacitive properties accounting for the overall charge-storage process,especially when I<0.5 A g^(-1).At lower gravimetric currents(e.g.,0.05 A g^(-1))and up to 1.0 V,the presence of cobalt hexacyanoferrate improves the specific energy for more than 300%.In addition,to better understanding the energy storage process we also provided a careful investigation of the electrode materials under dynamic polarization conditions using the in situ Raman spectroscopy and synchrotron light Xray diffraction techniques.Interesting complementary findings were obtained in these studies.We believe that this novel electrode material is promising for applications regarding the energy-storage process in pseudocapacitors with long lifespan properties.

Highly active and stable Co nanoparticles embedded in nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon nanofibers for aqueous-phase levulinic acid hydrogenation

Developing a highly active and durable non-noble metal catalyst for aqueous-phase levulinic acid(LA)hydrogenation to g-valerolactone(GVL)is an appealing yet challenging task.Herein,we report well-dispersed Co nanoparticles(NPs)embedded in nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon nanofibers as an efficient catalyst for aqueous-phase LA hydrogenation to GVL.The Co zeolitic imidazolate framework(ZIF-67)nanocrystals were anchored on the sodium dodecyl sulfate modified wipe fiber(WF-S),yielding one-dimensional(1-D)structured composite(ZIF-67/WF-S).Subsequently,Co NPs were uniformly embedded in nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon nanofibers(Co^(R)NC/SMCNF)through a pyrolysis-reduction strategy using ZIF-67/WF-S as the precursor.Benefiting from introducing modified wipe fiber WF-S to enhance the dispersion of Co NPs,and Co^(0) with Co-N_xdual active sites,the resulting Co^(R)NC/SMCNF catalyst shows brilliant catalytic activity(206 h^(-1) turnover frequency).Additionally,the strong metal-support interactions greatly inhibited the Co NPs from aggregation and leaching from the mesoporous carbon nanofibers,and thus increasing the reusability of the Co^(R)NC/SMCNF catalyst(reusable nine times without notable activity loss).

Enhanced Capacitive Characteristics of Activated Carbon by Secondary Activation

The effect of the improvement of commercial activated carbon(AC) on its specific capacitance and high rate capability of double layer(dl) charging/discharging process has been studied. The improvement of AC was carried out \%via\% a secondary activation under steam in the presence of catalyst NiCl\-2, and the suitable condition was found to be a heat treatment at about 875 ℃ for 1 h. Under those conditions, the discharge specific capacitance of the improved AC increases up to 53.67 F/g, showing an increase of about 25% as compared with that of as-received AC. The good rectangular-shaped voltammograms and A.C. impedance spectra prove that the high rate capability of the capacitor made of the improved AC is enhanced significantly. The capacitance resistance(RC) time constant of the capacitor containing the improved AC is 1\^74 s, which is much lower than that of the one containing as-received AC(an RC value of 4.73 s). It is noted that both kinds of AC samples show a similar specific surface area and pore size distribution, but some changes have taken place in the carbon surface groups, especially a decrease in the concentration of surface carbonyl groups after the improvement, which have been verified by means of X-photoelectron spectroscopy. Accordingly, it is suggested that the decrease in the concentration of surface carbonyl groups for the improved AC is beneficial to the organic electrolyte ion penetrating into the pores, thus leading to the increase in both the specific capacitance and high rate capability of the supercapacitor.

Superfast and solvent-free core-shell assembly of sulfur/carbon active particles by hail-inspired nanostorm technology for high-energy-density Li-S batteries

The demand on low-carbon emission fabrication technologies for energy storage materials is increasing dramatically with the global interest on carbon neutrality.As a promising active material for metal-sulfur batteries,sulfur is of great interest due to its high-energy-density and abundance.However,there is a lack of industry-friendly and low-carbon fabrication strategies for high-performance sulfur-based active particles,which,however,is in critical need by their practical success.Herein,based on a hail-inspired sulfur nano-storm(HSN)technology developed in our lab,we report an energy-saving,solvent-free strategy for producing core-shell sulfur/carbon electrode particles(CNT@AC-S)in minutes.The fabrication of the CNT@AC-S electrode particles only involves low-cost sulfur blocks,commercial carbon nanotubes(CNT)and activated carbon(AC)micro-particles with high specific surface area.Based on the above core-shell CNT@AC-S particles,sulfur cathode with a high sulfur-loading of 9.2 mg cm^(-2) delivers a stable area capacity of 6.6 mAh cm^(-2) over 100 cycles.Furthermore,even for sulfur cathode with a super-high sulfur content(72 wt%over the whole electrode),it still delivers a high area capacity of 9 mAh cm^(-2) over50 cycles in a quasi-lean electrolyte condition.In a nutshell,this study brings a green and industryfriendly fabrication strategy for cost-effective production of rationally designed S-rich electrode particles.

Removal characteristics of disinfection by-products formation potential by bioaugmentation activated carbon process

The high-active bacteria were screened from 8 dominant bacteria obtained from the natural water body,and then the bioaugmentation activated carbon was formed by hydraulic immobilization of the high-active bacteria. Plant-scale studies on removal characteristics of disinfection by-products formation potentials (DBPFP) by bioaugmentation activated carbon process were conducted for micro-polluted raw water treatment. The results show that the bioaugmentation activated carbon process has adopted better purification efficiency to THMFP and HAAFP than traditional biological activated carbon process,and that average removal efficiencies of THMFP and HAAFP can reach 35% and 39.7% during the test period,increasing by more than 10% compared with traditional biological activated carbon process. The removal efficiencies of THMFP and HAAFP are stable because of the biodegradation of the high-active bacteria and the adsorption of active carbon. The biodegradability of CHCl3 formation potential is better as compared with that of CHCl2Br and CHClBr2 formation potentials among THMFP,and high removal efficiency of CHCl3formation potential is obtained by bioaugmentation degradation of the high-active bacteria. The biodegradability of HAAFP is better in comparison with that of THMFP,and the chemical properties of HAAFP are propitious to adsorption of activated carbon. Thus,HAAFP is on predominance during the competitive removal process with THMFP.

High surface area biocarbon monoliths for methane storage

New energy sources that reduce the volume of harmful gases such as SO_(x)and NO_(x)released into the atmosphere are in constant development.Natural gas,primarily made up of methane,is being widely used as one reliable energy source for heating and electricity generation due to its high combustion value.Currently,natural gas accounts for a large portion of electricity generation and chemical feedstock in manufacturing plastics and other commercially important organic chemicals.In the near future,natural gas will be widely used as a fuel for vehicles.Therefore,a practical storage device for its storage and transportation is very beneficial to the deployment of natural gas as an energy source for new technologies.In this tutorial review,biomaterials-based carbon monoliths(CMs),one kind of carbonaceous material,was reviewed as an adsorbent for natural gas(methane)adsorption and storage.

Carbon Foam Anode Modified by Urea and Its Higher Electrochemical Performance in Marine Benthic Microbial Fuel Cell

Electrode materials have an important effect on the property of microbial fuel cell(MFC). Carbon foam is utilized as an anode and further modified by urea to improve its performance in marine benthic microbial fuel cell(BMFC) with higher voltage and output power. The electrochemical properties of plain carbon foam(PC) and urea-modified carbon foam(UC) are measured respectively. Results show that the UC obtains better wettability after its modification and higher anti-polarization ability than the PC. A novel phenomenon has been found that the electrical potential of the modified UC anode is nearly 100 m V lower than that of the PC, reaching-570 ±10 m V(vs. SCE), and that it also has a much higher electron transfer kinetic activity, reaching 9399.4 m W m-2, which is 566.2-fold higher than that from plain graphite anode(PG). The fuel cell containing the UC anode has the maximum power density(256.0 m W m-2) among the three different BMFCs. Urea would enhance the bacteria biofilm formation with a more diverse microbial community and maintain more electrons, leading to a lower anodic redox potential and higher power output. The paper primarily analyzes why the electrical potential of the modified anode becomes much lower than that of others after urea modification. These results can be utilized to construct a novel BMFC with higher output power and to design the conditioner of voltage booster with a higher conversion ratio. Finally, the carbon foam with a bigger pore size would be a potential anodic material in conventional MFC.

Synthesis of High Purity SiC Powder for High-resistivity SiC Single Crystals Growth

High purity silicon carbide （SIC） powder was synthesized in-situ by chemical reaction between silicon and carbon powder. In order to ensure that the impurity concentration of the resulting SiC powder is suitable for high-resistivity SiC single crystal growth, the preparation technology of SiC powder is different from that of SiC ceramic. The influence of the shape and size of carbon particles on the morphology and phase composition of the obtained SiC powder were discussed. The phase composition and morphology of the products were investigated by X-ray diffraction, Raman microspectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the composition of resulting SiC by in-situ synthesis from Si/C mixture strongly depends on the nature of the carbon source, which corresponds to the particle size and shape, as well as the preparation temperature. In the experimental conditions, flake graphite is more suitable for the synthesis of SiC powder than activated carbon because of its relatively smaller particle size and flake shape, which make the conversion more complete. The major phase composition of the full conversion products is β-SiC, with traces of α-SiC. Glow discharge mass spectroscopy measurements indicated that SiC powder synthesized with this chemical reaction method can meet the purity demand for the growth of high-resistivity SiC single crystals.

Toughness Improvement of Geothermal Well Cement at up to 300^&deg;C: Using Carbon Microfiber

This study aimed at assessing the usefulness of carbon microfiber (CMF) in improving the compressive-toughness of sodium metasilicate-activated calcium aluminate/Class F fly ash foamed cement at hydrothermal temperatures of up to 300&deg;C. When the CMFs came in contact with a pore solution of cement, their surfaces underwent alkali-caused oxidation, leading to the formation of metal (Na, Ca, Al)-complexed carboxylate groups. The extent of this oxidation was enhanced by the temperature increase, corresponding to the incorporation of more oxidation derivatives at higher temperatures. Although micro-probe examinations did not show any defects in the fibers, the enhanced oxidation engendered shrinkage of the interlayer spacing between the C-basal planes in CMFs, and a decline in their thermal stability. On the other hand, the complexed carboxylate groups present on the surfaces of oxidized fibers played a pivotal role in improving the adherence of fibers to the cement matrix. Such fiber/cement interfacial bonds contributed significantly to the excellent bridging effect of fibers, resistance to the cracks development and propagation, and to improvement of the post-crack material ductility. Consequently, the compressive toughness of the 85&deg;-, 200&deg;-, and 300&deg;C-autoclaved foamed cements reinforced with 10 wt% CMF was 2.4-, 2.9-, and 3.1-fold higher than for cement without the reinforcement.

Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy Study on Novel Carbon-Sulfur Nano-Composite Cathodes in Lithium Rechargeable Batteries

Carbon-sulfur nano-composite cathodes for lithium rechargeable batteries were investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The novel carbon-sulfur nano-composite material was synthesized by heating sublimed sulfur and high surface area activated carbon (HSAAC) in certain conditions. Equivalent circuits were used to fit the spectra at different discharge states. The variations of impedance spectra, charge-transfer resistance and double layer capacitance were discussed. The changes of EIS with potential were analyzed based on a plausible electrical equivalent circuit model, and some parameters were measured and analyzed about electrochemical performance and state of charge and discharge of the electrode. The good accuracy in fitting values of the model to the experimental data indicates that the mathematical model gives out a satisfying description upon the mechanism of high rate of capacity fade in lithium-sulfur battery.

Determination of Trace Non Rare Earth Elements in High Purity Rare Earth Oxides by ICP－AES with Microcolumn Preconcentration in a Flow Injection System

A new method for the determination of trace non-rare earth elements in high purity rare earth oxides by ICP-AES with preconcentration on an active carbon-silica gel microcolumn in a flow injection system is described in this paper. Experimental parameters such as pH, flow rate,reagent concentration,length of reaction coil,eluent acidity,etc. were optimized. In the buffer solution of NH3. H2O/NH4Cl at pH 4. 6,Al,Cr,Cu,Fe, Pb, V and Zn can be preconcentrated and then eluted with 4. 5 mol/L nitric acid utilizing stop-flow technique. The enrichment factors were in range of 8. 1￣12. 6 with detection limits of μg/m level ,and the RSD with metals at μg/g level were 2. 3￣5. 0% (n= 7). The method proposed can reduce the matrix interference effectively , and has been applied to the determination of non-rare earth metals atμg/g level in high purity Eu2O3 with satisfactory results.

High Power Density Electric Double Layer Capacitor with Improved Activated Carbon

The improvement on commercial activated carbon (AC) through the reactivation under steam in the presence of NiCh(2) catalyst leads to the increases of both energy mid power densities of electric double layer (dl) capacitors. When AC was treated at 875 V for 1 h, its discharge specific Capacitance increases up to 53.67 F (.) g(-1), an increase of about 25% compared to the as-received AC. Moreover, a significaut increase in high rate capability of electric dl Capacitor was found after the improvements. Surprisingly, both the treated and untreated AC samples showed similar specific surface area and pore size distribution, but some changes in the surface groups and thew concentrations after reactivation were verified by X-photoelectron spectra. Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that the decrease in the surface concentration of the carbonyl-containing species for the improved AC results in an increase of accessibility of the pores to the organic electrolyte ion, causing the enhancements of both the specific capacitance and high rate capability.

Dry Mix Slag—High-Calcium Fly Ash Binder. Part One: Hydration and Mechanical Properties

High-calcium fly ash (HCFA)—a residue of high-temperature coal combustion at thermal power plants, in combination with sodium carbonate presents an effective hardening activator of ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBFS). Substitution of 10% - 30% of GGBFS by HCFA and premixing of 1% - 3% Na2CO3 to this dry binary binder was discovered to give mortar compression strength of 10 - 30 to 30 - 45 MPa at 7 and 28 days when moist cured at ambient temperature. High-calcium fly ash produced from low-temperature combustion of fuel, like in circulating fluidized bed technology, reacts with water readily and is itself a good hardening activator for GGBFS, so introduction of Na2CO3 into such mix has no noticeable effect on the mortar strength. However, low-temperature HCFA has higher water demand, and the strength of mortar is compromised by this factor. As of today, our research is still ongoing, and we expect to publish more data on different aspects of durability of proposed GGBFS-HCFA binder later.

氢能耦合替代燃料悬浮煅烧水泥技术研究

氢能替代化石燃料煅烧水泥熟料是水泥行业节能降碳的有效途径。文章基于热工理论计算,分析了氢气等不同燃料的理论煅烧温度和烟气量,搭建了模拟分解炉煅烧状态的悬浮煅烧小试实验平台,分析验证了氢能替代化石燃料煅烧水泥熟料的可行性。结果表明,在同等热耗条件下,相对常规燃料,氢燃料未明显增加理论烟气量,氢能掺烧烟煤粉或稻壳粉对降低悬浮煅烧时的CO和NOX有正向作用,能够促进劣质燃料的使用;同时,氢能作为低碳燃料,能够进一步发挥其高活性作用,解决当前替代燃料在分解炉中不完全燃烧和NOX本底排放浓度高的技术瓶颈。根据实验结果,针对减少化石燃料消耗及碳减排需求,提出了20%氢能耦合60%替代燃料煅烧水泥熟料的工业化技术路线,此路线在应用于实际工程前,需进行更加深入的中试研究。

铜纳米颗粒催化剂的重构及其合成碳酸二甲酯性能研究

甲醇氧化羰基化合成碳酸二甲酯(DMC)是中国重点开发的现代煤化工路线,其关键在于高性能催化剂的设计研发。本研究采用液相重构法,通过调变溶剂种类、气氛和压力制得高效铜团簇催化剂,在DMC合成反应中时空收率(STY_(DMC))高达3520 mg/(g·h),经过10次循环,STY_(DMC)下降21.8%。N2吸附-脱附、XRD、TEM、STEM等表征手段表明,强还原性的CO不但可使铜纳米颗粒(~9.7 nm)部分重构为亚纳米团簇(~1.34 nm),同时有效维持了Cu^(0)物种的存在,从而提升了催化活性和稳定性。进一步研究表明,铜重构的发生取决于气氛-金属-载体三者的相互作用,且随氧化、还原性气氛的变化呈可逆状态。

活性炭/超高分子量聚乙烯耐热性研究

为了提高超高分子量聚乙烯(UHMWPE)的耐热性,采用超级电容活性炭(微米级)对UHMWPE进行填充改性,制备活性炭/UHMWPE复合材料。通过热重(TG/DTG)测试和维卡软化点温度测试分析了复合体系的热性能;同时研究了活性炭含量对UHMWPE的电学性能、冲击性能、表面及摩擦系数的影响。结果表明:活性炭填充可使UHMWPE材料失重5%时的分解温度提高17.44℃,维卡软化点提高了约18℃;且活性炭对UHMWPE复合体系的抗静电性、冲击性能、表面均有比较明显的改善。

高硫煤基多孔碳材料的可控制备及其用于锂硫电池

高性能、低成本的多孔碳材料是理想的锂硫电池硫宿主材料,但利用廉价的原料实现其规模化制备仍面临巨大挑战。以资源丰富的高硫煤为原料,采用氧化镁和氢氧化钾作为模板剂和活性剂,制备了煤基多孔碳材料,并研究了其作为锂硫电池硫宿主材料的构效关系。研究发现,煤基碳材料制备过程中,模板剂MgO作用下产生介孔(占比74%);活性剂KOH主要导致微孔(占72%)生成;MgO和KOH共同作用制备的碳材料PCMgO+KOH比表面积大(1616 m^(2)/g)、孔容高(1.02 m^(3)/g)、孔结构丰富(介孔54%、微孔46%)。电化学性能测试结果表明,S@PCMgO+KOH具有良好的倍率性能和优异的循环稳定性,在1 C充放电倍率循环500圈后容量仍能保留553.2 mAh/g,容量保持率达65.5%,每个循环的衰减率低至0.069%;在2 C下,循环500圈后容量为484.0 mAh/g,容量保持率为63%,每圈衰减率仅0.075%,具有良好的倍率性能和优异的循环稳定性。PCMgO+KOH优异的电化学性能主要来自其较小的欧姆电阻和电荷转移电阻、快速的多硫化物氧化还原反应动力学及对多硫化锂优异的束缚能力。本研究为价廉性高的锂硫电池硫宿主材料的制备提供了可选择的路线。