Post lithium ion batteries for emerging energy storage technologies

It is obvious that in the next ten years,lithium ion batteries are still the dominating power source for a wide range of products including consumable electronics,vehicles(cars,motorbikes,scooters,buses),drones,and even robots and tanks.However,in the pursuit of cost-effective,safety-reliable,and highly efficient energy storage technologies,researchers are developing

Nanostructured energy materials for electrochemical energy conversion and storage: A review

Nanostructured materials have received tremendous interest due to their unique mechanical/electrical properties and overall behavior contributed by the complex synergy of bulk and interfacial properties for efficient and effective energy conversion and storage. The booming development of nanotechnology affords emerging but effective tools in designing advanced energy material. We reviewed the significant progress and dominated nanostructured energy materials in electrochemical energy conversion and storage devices, including lithium ion batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries, lithium-oxygen batteries, lithium metal batteries, and supercapacitors. The use of nanostructured electrocatalyst for effective electrocatalysis in oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reactions for fuel cells and metal-air batteries was also included. The challenges in the undesirable side reactions between electrolytes and electrode due to high electrode/electrolyte contact area, low volumetric energy density of electrode owing to low tap density, and uniform production of complex energy materials in working devices should be overcome to fully demonstrate the advanced energy nanostructures for electrochemical energy conversion and storage. The energy chemistry at the interfaces of nanostructured electrode/electrolyte is highly expected to guide the rational design and full demonstration of energy materials in a working device. (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.

SnO_2 nanospheres among GO and SWNTs networks as anode for enhanced lithium storage performances

Conducting supporters of purified single-walled carbon nanotubes（SWNTs） and graphene oxide（GO）were used to confine pomegranate-structured Sn O2 nanospheres for forming SnO-GO-SWNT composites.As anode material for lithium ion batteries（LIBs）, this composite exhibits a stable and large reversible capacity together with an excellent rate capability. In addition, an analysis of the AC impedance spectroscopy has been used to confirm the enhanced mechanism for LIB performance. The improved electrochemical performance should be ascribed greatly to the reinforced synergistic effects between GO and SWNT networks, and their enhanced contribution of the conductivity. These results indicate that this composite has potential for utilization in high-rate and durable LIBs.

Recent Advances on Graphene Quantum Dots for Electrochemical Energy Storage Devices

Graphene quantum dots(GQDs)which are nanofragments of graphene with an average size between 2 and 50 nm have attracted much attention due to their outstanding properties such as high conductivity,high surface area,and good solubility in various solvents.GQDs combine the quantum confinement and edges effects and the properties of graphene.Therefore,GQDs offers a broad range of applications in various fields(medicine,energy conversion,and energy storage devices).This review will present the recent research based on the introduction of GQDs in batteries,supercapacitors,and microsupercapacitors as electrodes materials or mixed with an active material as an auxiliary agent.Tables,discussed on selected examples,summarize the electrochemical performances and finally,challenges and perspectives are recalled for the subsequent optimization strategy of electrode materials.This review is expected to appeal a broad interest on functional GQDs materials and promote the further development of high-performance energy storage device.

Non-aqueous lithium bromine battery of high energy density with carbon coated membrane

Flow batteries with high energy density and long cycle life have been pursued to advance the progress of energy storage and grid application. Non-aqueous batteries with wide voltage windows represent a promising technology without the limitation of water electrolysis, but they suffer from low electrolyte concentration and unsatisfactory battery performance. Here, a non-aqueous lithium bromine rechargeable battery is proposed, which is based on Br;/Br;and Li;/Li as active redox pairs, with fast redox kinetics and good stability. The Li/Br battery combines the advantages of high output voltage（;.1 V）,electrolyte concentration（3.0 mol/L）, maximum power density（29.1 m W/cm;） and practical energy density（232.6 Wh/kg）. Additionally, the battery displays a columbic efficiency（CE） of 90.0%, a voltage efficiency（VE） of 88.0% and an energy efficiency（EE） of 80.0% at 1.0 m A/cm;after continuously running for more than 1000 cycles, which is by far the longest cycle life reported for non-aqueous flow batteries.

Empowering the Future: Exploring the Construction and Characteristics of Lithium-Ion Batteries

Lithium element has attracted remarkable attraction for energy storage devices, over the past 30 years. Lithium is a light element and exhibits the low atomic number 3, just after hydrogen and helium in the periodic table. The lithium atom has a strong tendency to release one electron and constitute a positive charge, as Li . Initially, lithium metal was employed as a negative electrode, which released electrons. However, it was observed that its structure changed after the repetition of charge-discharge cycles. To remedy this, the cathode mainly consisted of layer metal oxide and olive, e.g., cobalt oxide, LiFePO4, etc., along with some contents of lithium, while the anode was assembled by graphite and silicon, etc. Moreover, the electrolyte was prepared using the lithium salt in a suitable solvent to attain a greater concentration of lithium ions. Owing to the lithium ions’ role, the battery’s name was mentioned as a lithium-ion battery. Herein, the presented work describes the working and operational mechanism of the lithium-ion battery. Further, the lithium-ion batteries’ general view and future prospects have also been elaborated.

Biomimetic Synthesis of Ear-of-wheat-shaped Manganese Oxide Nanoparticles on Carbon Nanotubes for High-capacity Lithium Storage

Manganese oxide(Mn_(3)O_(4))is of great potential for lithium storage based on conversion reactions,but its application in rechargeable lithium batteries is severely hindered by the low electric conductivity and large volume variation during lithiation/delithiation.Herein,a biomimetic ear-of-wheat-like nanocomposite of ultrafine Mn_(3)O_(4)nanoparticles(MONPs)and multi-walled carbon nanotubes(MWCNTs)is prepared using a facile solvothermal method.The tightly packed MONP"cereal-grains"are directly grown and uniformly interspersed on the outer surface of skeleton MWCNT"central stems."The ultrafine MONPs are favorable to lithium incorporation/extraction while the interconnected MWCNT skeletons provide a highly conducting network for electron transportation.Consequently,a high reversible capacity of 810 m A h g^(-1)is obtained at the current density of 40 m A g^(-1).After 50 cycles at 160 m A g^(-1),the nanocomposite still delivers a capacity up to 796 m A h g^(-1),which is higher than twice of that of pure Mn_(3)O_(4)nanopowders.The unique nanostructure and the facile biomimetic method can be widely extended to design and explore various highperformance energy materials for lithium/sodium ion batteries and fuel cells.

Analysis of Hybrid Rechargeable Energy Storage Systems in Series Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles Based on Simulations

In this paper, an extended analysis of the performance of different hybrid Rechargeable Energy Storage Systems (RESS) for use in Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) with a series drivetrain topology is analyzed, based on simulations with three different driving cycles. The investigated hybrid energy storage topologies are an energy optimized lithium-ion battery (HE) in combination with an Electrical Double-Layer Capacitor (EDLC) system, in combination with a power optimized lithium-ion battery (HP) system or in combination with a Lithium-ion Capacitor (LiCap) system, that act as a Peak Power System. From the simulation results it was observed that hybridization of the HE lithium-ion based energy storage system resulted from the three topologies in an increased overall energy efficiency of the RESS, in an extended all electric range of the PHEV and in a reduced average current through the HE battery. The lowest consumption during the three driving cycles was obtained for the HE-LiCap topology, where fuel savings of respectively 6.0%, 10.3% and 6.8% compared with the battery stand-alone system were achieved. The largest extension of the range was achieved for the HE-HP configuration (17% based on FTP-75 driving cycle). HP batteries however have a large internal resistance in comparison to EDLC and LiCap systems, which resulted in a reduced overall energy efficiency of the hybrid RESS. Additionally, it was observed that the HP and LiCap systems both offer significant benefits for the integration of a peak power system in the drivetrain of a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle due to their low volume and weight in comparison to that of the EDLC system.

Economic Feasibility of Micro-Grid Energy Storage and the Impact of Emerging Technologies on Its Viability

Currently, energy storage devices show great promise when used in micro-grid applications, and further advancements in this technology will lead to economically-viable and environmentally-friendly solutions in regards to residential energy consumption. Creating a 21st-century energy infrastructure will be fundamental to society in the coming decades and ensuring cost-effective means of doing so will lessen the burden on the average consumer. While current research has focused primarily on fundamental battery research, the economic viability for the average American consumer has been neglected in many cases. In this work, current and future methods of home energy storage are analyzed via a thorough literature review and the most promising current and near-future methods are explored. These methods include current Lithium-Ion Battery (LIB) technology, reused LIB from Electric Vehicles (EVs), Lithium Nickel manganese cobalt oxides (NMC) cathode composition and the utilization of silicon as an anode material. After the potential of these technologies is explored, an analysis of their economic viability for the average consumer is presented. The literature review demonstrates that the current state of LIB is very close to economically feasible;reused LIBs are less viable than new LIBs, and future LIB compositions show great promise in viability. This shows that within the next decade, micro-grids will be a reasonable alternative to utility energy harnessing techniques, and a major step towards green energy consumption will be realized. Hybrid energy storage systems, on the other hand, are shown to be economically infeasible, in the near future, due to their high cost per kWh. However, when analyzing the energy storage capabilities of these systems, it is shown that they may be vital in updated energy infrastructure and provide a cost saving.

Hierarchical nanostructured composite cathode with carbon nanotubes as conductive scaffold for lithium-sulfur batteries

Carbon nanotubes （CNTs） are excellent scaffolds for advanced electrode materials, resulting from their intrinsic sp2 carbon hybridization, interconnected electron pathway, large aspect ratio, hierarchical porous structures, and low cost at a large-scale production. How to make full utilization of the mass produced CNTs as building blocks for nanocomposite electrodes is not well understood yet. Herein, a composite cathode containing commercial agglomerated multi-walled CNTs and S for Li-S battery was fabricated by a facile melt-diffusion strategy. The hierarchical CNT@S coaxial nanocables exhibited a discharging capacity of 1020 and 740 mAh .g-1 at 0.5 and 2.0 C, respectively. A rapid capacity decay of 0.7% per cycle at the initial 10 cycles and a slow decay rate of 0.14% per cycle for the later 140 cycles were detected. Such hierarchical agglomerated CNT@ S cathodes show advantages in easy fabrication, environmentally benign, low cost, excellent scalability, and good Li ion storage performance, which are extraordinary composites for high performance Li-S battery.

Revisiting Scientific Issues for Industrial Applications of Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Inspired by high theoretical energy density(-2600 W h kg^(-1))and cost-effectiveness of sulfur cathode,lithium–sulfur batteries are receiving great attention and considered as one of the most promising next-generation high-energy-density batteries.However,over the past decades,the energy density and reliable safety levels as well as the commercial progress of lithium-sulfur batteries are still far from satisfactory due to the disconnection and huge gap between fundamental research and practical application.

Nano-crystalline FeOOH mixed with SWNT matrix as a superior anode material for lithium batteries

Nano-crystalline FeOOH particles （5-10 nm） have been uniformly mixed with electric matrix of single-walled carbon nanotubes （SWNTs） for forming FeOOH/SWNT composite via a facile ultrasonication method. Directly using the FeOOH/SWNT composite （containing 15 wt% SWNTs） as anode material for lithium battery enhances kinetics of the Li＋ insertion/extraction processes, thereby effectively improving re- versible capacity and cycle performance, which delivers a high reversible capacity of 758 mAh.g-1 under a current density of 400 mA.g-1 even after 180 cycles, being comparable with previous reports in terms of electrochemical performance for FeOOH anode. The good electrochemical performance should be ascribed to the small particle size and nano-crystalline of FeOOH, as well as the good electronic conductivity of SWNT matrix.

Lignin derived hierarchical porous carbon with extremely suppressed polyselenide shuttling for high-capacity and long-cycle-life lithium-selenium batteries

Lithium-selenium(Li-Se)batteries have attracted considerable attentions for next-generation energy storage systems owing to high volumetric capacity of 3265 m Ah cm^(-3) and excellent electronic conductivity(~10^(-5)S cm^(-1))of selenium.However,the shuttling effect and capacity fading prevent their wide applications.Herein we report a low-cost strategy for scalable fabrication of lignin derived hierarchical porous carbon(LHPC)as a new high-loading Se host for high-capacity and long-term cycling Li-Se batteries in carbonate electrolyte.The resulting LHPC exhibits three-dimensional(3D)hierarchically porous structure,high specific surface area of 1696 m^(2) g^(-1),and hetero-atom doping(O,S),which can effectively confine the Se particles into the micropores,and meanwhile,offer effective chemical binding sites for selenides from hetero-atoms(O,S).As a result,our Li-Se batteries based on Se@LHPC demonstrate high capacity of 450 m Ah g^(-1) at 0.5 C after 500 cycles,with a low capacity fading rate of only 0.027%.The theoretical simulation confirmed the strong affinity of selenides on the O and S sites of LHPC effectively mitigating the Se losing.Therefore,our strategy of using lignin as the low-cost precursor of hierarchically porous carbon for high-loading Se host offers new opportunities for high-capacity and long-life Li-Se batteries.

Rational design on separators and liquid electrolytes for safer lithium-ion batteries

As the energy density of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) continues to increase,their safety has become a great concern for further practical large-scale applications.One of the ultimate solution of the safety issue is to develop intrinsically safe battery components,where the battery separators and liquid electrolytes are critical for the battery thermal runaway process.In this review,we summarize recent progress in the rational materials design on battery separators and liquid electrolyte towards the goal of improving the safety of LIBs.Also,some strategies for further improving safety of LIBs are also briefly outlooked.

Facile synthesis and performance of polypyrrole-coated sulfur nanocomposite as cathode materials for lithium/sulfur batteries

In situ chemical oxidation polymerization of pyrrole on the surface of sulfur particles was carried out to synthesize a sulfur/polypyrrole （SIPPy） nanocomposite with core-shell structure. The composite was characterized by elemental analysis, X-ray diffraction, scanning/transmission electron microscopy, and electrochemical measurements. XRD and FTIR results showed that sulfur well dispersed in the core-shell structure and PPy structure was successfully obtained via in situ oxidative polymerization of pyrrole on the surface of sulfur particles. TEM observation revealed that PPy was formed and fixed to the surface of sulfur nanoparticle after polymerization, developing a well-defined core-shell structure and the thickness of PPy coating layer was in the range of 20-30 nm. In the composite, PPy worked as a conducting matrix as well as a coating agent, which confined the active materials within the electrode. Consequently, the as prepared SIPPy composite cathode exhibited good cycling and rate performances for rechargeable lithium/sulfur batteries. The resulting cell containing SIPPy composite cathode yields a discharge capacity of 1039 mAh·g^-1 at the initial cycle and retains 59% of this value over 50 cycles at 0.1 C rate. At 1 C rate, the SIPPy composite showed good cycle stability, and the discharge capacity was 475 mAh·g^-1 after 50 cycles.

Porous V_2O_5-SnO_2 /CNTs composites as high performance cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries

Vanadium pentoxide （V205） exhibits high theoretical capacities when used as a cathode in lithium ion batteries （LIBs）, but its application is limited by its structural instability as well as its low lithium and electronic conductivities. A porous composite of V2Os-SnO2/carbon nanotubes （CNTs） was prepared by a hydrothermal method and followed by thermal treatment. The small particles of V205, their porous structure and the coexistence of SnO2 and CNTs can all facilitate the diffusion rates of the electrons and lithium ions. Electrochemical impedance spectra indicated higher ionic and electric conductivities, as compared to commercial V205. The VzOs-SnOz/CNTs composite gave a reversible discharge capacity of 198 mAh.g- 1 at the voltage range of 2.05-4.0 V, measured at a current rate of 200 mA.g-1, while that of the commercial V205 was only 88 mAh.g-1, demonstrating that the porous V2Os-SnOz/CNTs composite is a promising candidate for high-performance lithium secondary batteries.

Self-transforming stainless-steel into the next generation anode material for lithium ion batteries

Here,an extremely cost-effective and simple method is proposed in order to morphologically selftransform stain less steel from a completely inactive material to a fully operati onal,nanowire-structured,3D anode material for lithium ion batteries.The reagentless process of a single heating step of the plain stainless steel in a partially reduci ng atmosphere,converts the stain less steel into an active anode via metal-selective oxidation,creating vast spinel-structured nanowires directly from the electrochemically in active surface.The simple process allows the complete utilizati on of the 3D mesh structure as the electrochemically-active spinel nanowires greatly enhance the active surface area.The novel material and architecture exhibits high capacities(-1000 mAh/g after-400 cycles),long cycle life(>1100 cycles)and fast rate performance(>2C).Simple modulation of the substrate can result in very high areal and volumetric capacities.Thus,areal capacities greater than 10 mAh/cm^(2) and volumetric capacities greater than 1400 mAh/cm^(3) can be achieved.Using the proposed method,the potential reduction in cost from the use of battery-grade graphite is at least an order of magnitude,with considerable better results achieved in terms of capacity and intrinsic structural benefits of the substrate,which include direct contact of the active material with the current collector,lack of delamination and binder-free performance.This work provides a new paradigm and a key step in the long route to replace the commercial graphite anode as the next-geneation anode material.

Comparison Study on Anode Materials of Lithium-Ion Battery Applied in Tibet

Lithium-ion battery is facing the capacity fade in cold area. It reports in this paper to improve the temperature-tolerance using the novel materials in the battery design. Mesophase carbon microspheres (MG11) composed of 2H + 3R graphite phase with more uniform size were used as anode material and a new binder (WRA268) was used. The tests results show that at 0°C, MG11 using conventional binder (styrene butadiene rubber, SBR) attains 66% of reversible capacity retention rate, and synthetic graphite (FSN-1) using WRA268 as binder attains 76.9% of reversible capacity retention rate, but it attains 34% for the FSN-1 using SBR as the binder. These results show that MG11-WRA268 is promising materials using for battery in cold areas such as Tibet.

Recent Progress of Catalytic Cathodes for Lithium-oxygen Batteries

Lithium-oxygen batteries are among the most promising electrochemical energy storage systems,which have attracted significant attention in the past few years duo to its far more energy density than lithium-ion batteries.Lithium oxygen battery energy storage is a reactive storage mechanism,and the discharge and charge processes are usually called oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)and oxygen evolution reaction(OER).Consequently,complex systems usually create complex problems,lithium oxygen batteries also face many problems,such as excessive accumulation of discharge products(Li_(2)O_(2))in the cathode pores,resulting in reduced capacity,unstable cycling performance and so on.Cathode catalyst,which could influence the kinetics of OER and ORR in lithium oxygen(Li-O_(2))battery,is one of the decisive factors to determine the electrochemical performance of the battery,so the design of cathode catalyst is vitally important.This review discusses the catalytic cathode materials,which are divided into four parts,carbon based materials,metals and metal oxides,composite materials and other materials.