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    Hybrid Anodes of Lithium Titanium Oxide and Carbon Onions for Lithium‐Ion and Sodium‐Ion Energy Storage
    (Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, 2020) Shim, Hwirim; Arnold, Stefanie; Budak, Öznil; Ulbricht, Maike; Srimuk, Pattarachai; Presser, Volker
    This study demonstrates the hybridization of Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) with different types of carbon onions synthesized from nanodiamonds. The carbon onions mixed with a Li4Ti5Ox precursor for sol–gel synthesis. These hybrid materials are tested as anodes for both lithium‐ion battery (LIB) and sodium‐ion battery (SIB). Electrochemical characterization for LIB application is carried out using 1 m LiPF6 in a 1:1 (by volume) ethylene carbonate and dimethyl carbonate as the electrolyte. For lithium‐ion intercalation, LTO hybridized with carbon onions from the inert‐gas route achieves an excellent electrochemical performance of 188 mAh g−1 at 10 mA g−1, which maintains 100 mAh g−1 at 1 A g−1 and has a cycling stability of 96% of initial capacity after 400 cycles, thereby outperforming both neat LTO and LTO with onions obtained via vacuum treatment. The performance of the best‐performing hybrid material (LTO with carbon onions from argon annealing) in an SIB is tested, using 1 m NaClO4 in ethylene/dimethyl/fluoroethylene carbonate (19:19:2 by mass) as the electrolyte. A maximum capacity of 102 mAh g−1 for the SIB system is obtained, with a capacity retention of 96% after 500 cycles.
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    Unraveling the Electrochemical Mechanism in Tin Oxide/MXene Nanocomposites as Highly Reversible Negative Electrodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries
    (Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 2023) Gentile, Antonio; Arnold, Stefanie; Ferrara, Chiara; Marchionna, Stefano; Tang, Yushu; Maibach, Julia; Kübel, Christian; Presser, Volker; Ruffo, Riccardo
    Lithium-ion batteries are constantly developing as the demands for power and energy storage increase. One promising approach to designing high-performance lithium-ion batteries is using conversion/alloying materials, such as SnO2. This class of materials does, in fact, present excellent performance and ease of preparation; however, it suffers from mechanical instabilities during cycling that impair its use. One way to overcome these problems is to prepare composites with bi-dimensional materials that stabilize them. Thus, over the past 10 years, two-dimensional materials with excellent transport properties (graphene, MXenes) have been developed that can be used synergistically with conversion materials to exploit both advantages. In this work, a 50/50 (by mass) SnO2/Ti3C2Tz nanocomposite is prepared and optimized as a negative electrode for lithium-ion batteries. The nanocomposite delivers over 500 mAh g−1 for 700 cycles at 0.1 A g−1 and demonstrates excellent rate capability, with 340 mAh g−1 at 8 A g−1. These results are due to the synergistic behavior of the two components of the nanocomposite, as demonstrated by ex situ chemical, structural, and morphological analyses. This knowledge allows, for the first time, to formulate a reaction mechanism with lithium-ions that provides partial reversibility of the conversion reaction with the formation of SnO.