Category

Renewable energy

ApplicationCharacterizationCompositesCustomer publicationsInorganic materialMaterialPorous materialRenewable energySAXSShapeSizeTechnique

Dental Resin Monomer Enables Unique NbO2/Carbon Lithium-Ion Battery Negative Electrode with Exceptional Performance

Ji, Qing; Gao, Xiangwen; Zhang, Qiuju; Jin, Liyu; Wang, Da; Xia, Yonggao; Yin, Shanshan; Xia, Senlin; Hohn, Nuri; Zuo, Xiuxia; Wang, Xiaoyan; Xie, Shuang; Xu, Zhuijun; Ma, Liujia; Chen, Liang; Chen, George Z.; Zhu, Jin; Hu, Binjie; Müller?Buschbaum, Peter; Bruce, Peter G.; Cheng, Ya-Jun

Niobium dioxide (NbO2) features a high theoretical capacity and an outstanding electron conductivity, which makes it a promising alternative to the commercial graphite negative electrode. However, studies on NbO2 based lithium-ion battery negative electrodes have been rarely reported. In the present work, NbO2 nanoparticles homogeneously embedded in a carbon matrix…
27 January 2020
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacterizationCustomer publicationsMaterialPhase analysisRenewable energySAXSTechnique

Enhanced Conductivity via Homopolymer-Rich Pathways in Block Polymer-Blended Electrolytes

Morris, Melody A.; Sung, Seung Hyun; Ketkar, Priyanka M.; Dura, Joseph A.; Nieuwendaal, Ryan C.; Epps, Thomas H.

The optimization of ionic conductivity and lithium-ion battery stability can be achieved by independently tuning the ion transport and mechanical robustness of block polymer (BP) electrolytes. However, the ionic conductivity of BP electrolytes is inherently limited by the covalent attachment of the ionically conductive block to the mechanically robust block,…
27 January 2020
ApplicationCharacteristic dimensionCharacterizationCustomer publicationsMaterialPorous materialRenewable energySAXSSpecific surfaceTechnique

Unveiling the role of hydrothermal carbon dots as anodes in sodium-ion batteries with ultrahigh initial coulombic efficiency

Xie, Fei; Xu, Zhen; Jensen, Anders C. S.; Ding, Feixiang; Au, Heather; Feng, Jingyu; Luo, Hui; Qiao, Mo; Guo, Zhenyu; Lu, Yaxiang; Drew, Alan J.; Hu, Yong-Sheng; Titirici, Maria-Magdalena

Hard carbon materials are regarded as the most promising anode materials for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) due to their best cost-effectiveness. However, their relatively low specific capacity and initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE) compared with the graphite anode in lithium-ion batteries still limit the energy density for further development. Thus, it is…
27 January 2020
ApplicationCharacteristic dimensionCharacterizationCustomer publicationsGISAXSInorganic materialMaterialOrientation analysisPhase analysisRenewable energySAXSSurface structure and patternsTechniqueThin films

Tuning Pore Dimensions of Mesoporous Inorganic Films by Homopolymer Swelling

Reid, Barry; Alvarez-Fernandez, Alberto; Schmidt-Hansberg, Benjamin; Guldin, Stefan

The functionality and applications of mesoporous inorganic films are closely linked to their mesopore dimensions. For material architectures derived from a block copolymer (BCP) micelle coassembly, the pore size is typically manipulated by changing the molecular weight corresponding to the pore-forming block. However, bespoke BCP synthesis is often a costly…
27 January 2020
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacterizationCustomer publicationsGIWAXSMaterialOtherRenewable energySurface structure and patternsTechnique

Efficient Anti-solvent-free Spin-Coated and Printed Sn-Perovskite Solar Cells with Crystal-Based Precursor Solutions

He, Lintao; Gu, Hao; Liu, Xiaolong; Li, Pengwei; Dang, Yangyang; Liang, Chao; Ono, Luis K.; Qi, Yabing; Tao, Xutang

Tin-based perovskite solar cells (PSCs), with more consummate optical band gaps, lower exciton-binding energies, and higher charge-carrier mobility, have not attracted tremendous research efforts compared with the lead-based ones that have a record power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 24.2%. The major challenges for Sn-based research are significantly low open-circuit voltage,…
27 January 2020
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacterizationCrystalline fractionCustomer publicationsMaterialPore size and pore size distributionRenewable energySAXSSpecific surfaceTechniqueWAXS

Facile Route for the Fabrication of Polypropylene Separators for Lithium-Ion Batteries with High Elongation and Strong Puncture Resistance

Kang, Jian; Chen, Dandan; Xiong, Bijin; Zheng, Nan; Yang, Feng; Xiang, Ming; Zheng, Zhuo

A facile route for fabrication of polypropylene separators for lithium-ion batteries with high elongation and strong puncture resistance has been proposed in this work. Polypropylene separators immersed in paraffin wax have been prepared to introduce small molecules into separators. The influence of small molecules on mechanical properties of separators is…
27 January 2020
ApplicationCharacterizationCustomer publicationsOtherRenewable energySAXSSizeTechniqueWAXS

Local mobility in electrochemically inactive sodium in hard carbon anodes after the first cycle

Jensen, Anders C. S.; Olsson, Emilia; Au, Heather; Alptekin, Hande; Yang, Zhengqiang; Cottrell, Stephen; Yokoyama, Koji; Cai, Qiong; Titirici, Maria-Magdalena; Drew, Alan J.

Sodium ion batteries are a promising alternative to current lithium ion battery technology, providing relatively high capacity and good cycling stability at low cost. Hard carbons are today the anodes of choice but they suffer from poor rate performance and low initial coulombic efficiency. To improve the understanding of the…
27 January 2020
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacterizationCustomer publicationsGIWAXSMaterialOrientation analysisPhase analysisRenewable energySurface structure and patternsTechniqueThin films

Regulating the phase separation of ternary organic solar cells via 3D architectured AIE molecules

Adil, Muhammad Abdullah; Zhang, Jianqi; Wang, Yuheng; Yu, Jinde; Yang, Chen; Lu, Guanghao; Wei, Zhixiang

An optimized bulk heterojunction (BHJ) interface, certifying enhanced exciton-splitting, charge separation and recombination inhibition, is vastly desired to obtain high power conversion efficiencies (PCEs). Herein, the ternary strategy has been employed to effectively modify the phase separation between the J71:ITIC blend by incorporating a 3D aggregation-induced emission (AIE) material,…
27 January 2020
ApplicationCharacteristic dimensionCharacterizationCustomer publicationsMaterialPorous materialRenewable energySAXSTechnique

Regulating Pore Structure of Hierarchical Porous Waste Cork-Derived Hard Carbon Anode for Enhanced Na Storage Performance

Li, Yuqi; Lu, Yaxiang; Meng, Qingshi; Jensen, Anders C. S.; Zhang, Qiangqiang; Zhang, Qinghua; Tong, Yuxin; Qi, Yuruo; Gu, Lin; Titirici, Maria-Magdalena; Hu, Yong-Sheng

Porous structure design is generally considered to be a reliable strategy to boost ion transport and provide active sites for disordered carbon anodes of Na-ion batteries (NIBs). Herein, a type of waste cork-derived hard carbon material (CC) is reported for efficient Na storage via tuning the pore species. Benefiting from…
27 January 2020
(Natural) polymersApplicationCharacteristic dimensionCharacterizationCustomer publicationsGIWAXSMaterialOrientation analysisRenewable energyTechnique

Polyfluorene Copolymers as High-Performance Hole-Transport Materials for Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells

Hu, Jinlong; You, Jiang; Peng, Chang; Qiu, Shudi; He, Wenxin; Li, Chaohui; Liu, Xianhu; Mai, Yaohua; Guo, Fei

Inverted perovskite solar cells (PSCs) that can be entirely processed at low temperatures have attracted growing attention due to their cost-effective production. Hole-transport materials (HTMs) play an essential role in achieving efficient inverted PSCs, as they determine the effectiveness of charge extraction and recombination at interfaces. Herein, three polyfluorene copolymers…
27 January 2020