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Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    High-performance Li-O2 batteries with trilayered Pd/MnOx/Pd nanomembranes
    (Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, 2015) Lu, Xueyi; Deng, Junwen; Si, Wenping; Sun, Xiaolei; Liu, Xianghong; Liu, Bo; Liu, Lifeng; Oswald, Steffen; Baunack, Stefan; Grafe, Hans Joachim; Yan, Chenglin; Schmidt, Oliver G.
    Trilayered Pd/MnOx/Pd nanomembranes are fabricated as the cathode catalysts for Li‐O2 batteries. The combination of Pd and MnOx facilitates the transport of electrons, lithium ions, and oxygen‐containing intermediates, thus effectively decomposing the discharge product Li2O2 and significantly lowering the charge overpotential and enhancing the power efficiency. This is promising for future environmentally friendly applications.
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    Directly Anodized Sulfur-Doped TiO2 Nanotubes as Improved Anodes for Li-ion Batteries
    (Basel : MDPI, 2020) Sabaghi, Davood; Madian, Mahmoud; Omar, Ahmad; Oswald, Steffen; Uhlemann, Margitta; Maghrebi, Morteza; Baniadam, Majid; Mikhailova, Daria
    TiO2 represents one of the promising anode materials for lithium ion batteries due to its high thermal and chemical stability, relatively high theoretical specific capacity and low cost. However, the electrochemical performance, particularly for mesoporous TiO2, is limited and must be further developed. Elemental doping is a viable route to enhance rate capability and discharge capacity of TiO2 anodes in Li-ion batteries. Usually, elemental doping requires elevated temperatures, which represents a challenge, particularly for sulfur as a dopant. In this work, S-doped TiO2 nanotubes were successfully synthesized in situ during the electrochemical anodization of a titanium substrate at room temperature. The electrochemical anodization bath represented an ethylene glycol-based solution containing NH4F along with Na2S2O5 as the sulfur source. The S-doped TiO2 anodes demonstrated a higher areal discharge capacity of 95 µAh·cm−2 at a current rate of 100 µA·cm−2 after 100 cycles, as compared to the pure TiO2 nanotubes (60 µAh·cm−2). S-TiO2 also exhibited a significantly improved rate capability up to 2500 µA·cm−2 as compared to undoped TiO2. The improved electrochemical performance, as compared to pure TiO2 nanotubes, is attributed to a lower impedance in S-doped TiO2 nanotubes (STNTs). Thus, the direct S-doping during the anodization process is a promising and cost-effective route towards improved TiO2 anodes for Li-ion batteries.
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    Auger- and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy at Metallic Li Material: Chemical Shifts Related to Sample Preparation, Gas Atmosphere, and Ion and Electron Beam Effects
    (Basel : MDPI, 2022) Oswald, Steffen
    Li-based batteries are a key element in reaching a sustainable energy economy in the near future. The understanding of the very complex electrochemical processes is necessary for the optimization of their performance. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is an accepted method used to improve understanding around the chemical processes at the electrode surfaces. Nevertheless, its application is limited because the surfaces under investigation are mostly rough and inhomogeneous. Local elemental analysis, such as Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), could assist XPS to gain more insight into the chemical processes at the surfaces. In this paper, some challenges in using electron spectroscopy are discussed, such as binding energy (BE) referencing for the quantitative study of chemical shifts, gas atmospheric influences, or beam damage (including both AE and XP spectroscopy). Carefully prepared and surface-modified metallic lithium material is used as model surface, considering that Li is the key element for most battery applications.
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    Evaluation of surface cleaning procedures for CTGS substrates for SAW technology with XPS
    (Basel : MDPI, 2017) Brachmann, Erik; Seifert, Marietta; Oswald, Steffen; Menzel, Siegfried B.; Gemming, Thomas
    A highly efficient and reproducible cleaning procedure of piezoelectric substrates is essential in surface acoustic waves (SAW) technology to fabricate high-quality SAW devices, especially for new applications such SAW sensors wherein new materials for piezoelectric substrates and interdigital transducers are used. Therefore, the development and critical evaluation of cleaning procedures for each material system that is under consideration becomes crucial. Contaminants like particles or the presence of organic/inorganic material on the substrate can dramatically influence and alter the properties of the thin film substrate composite, such as wettability, film adhesion, film texture, and so on. In this article, focus is given to different cleaning processes like SC-1 and SC-2, UV-ozone treatment, as well as cleaning by first-contact polymer Opticlean, which are applied for removal of contaminants from the piezoelectric substrate Ca 3 TaGa 3 Si 2 O 14 . By means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, the presence of the most critical contaminants such as carbon, sodium, and iron removed through different cleaning procedures were studied and significant differences were observed between the outcomes of these procedures. Based on these results, a two-step cleaning process, combining SC-1 at a reduced temperature at 30 ∘ C instead of 80 ∘ C and a subsequent UV-ozone cleaning directly prior to deposition of the metallization, is suggested to achieve the lowest residual contamination level.
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    Role of 1,3-dioxolane and LiNO3 addition on the long term stability of nanostructured silicon/carbon anodes for rechargeable lithium batteries
    (Pennington, NJ : ECS, 2016) Jaumann, Tony; Balach, Juan; Klose, Markus; Oswald, Steffen; Eckert, Jürgen; Giebeler, Lars
    In order to utilize silicon as alternative anode for unfavorable lithium metal in lithium – sulfur (Li–S) batteries, a profound understanding of the interfacial characteristics in ether-based electrolytes is required. Herein, the solid electrolyte interface (SEI) of a nanostructured silicon/carbon anode after long-term cycling in an ether-based electrolyte for Li–S batteries is investigated. The role of LiNO3 and 1,3-dioxolane (DOL) in dimethoxy ethane (DME) solutions as typically used electrolyte components on the electrochemical performance and interfacial characteristics on silicon are evaluated. Because of the high surface area of our nanostructured electrode owing to the silicon particle size of around 5 nm and the porous carbon scaffold, the interfacial characteristics dominate the overall electrochemical reversibility opening a detailed analysis. We show that the use of DME/DOL solutions under ambient temperature causes higher degradation of electrolyte components compared to carbonate-based electrolytes used for Li–ion batteries (LIB). This behavior of DME/DOL mixtures is associated with different SEI component formation and it is demonstrated that LiNO3 addition can significantly stabilize the cycle performance of nanostructured silicon/carbon anodes. A careful post-mortem analysis and a discussion in context to carbonate-based electrolyte solutions helps to understand the degradation mechanism of silicon-based anodes in rechargeable lithium-based batteries.
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    SEI-component formation on sub 5 nm sized silicon nanoparticles in Li-ion batteries: The role of electrode preparation, FEC addition and binders
    (Cambridge : Royal Society of Chemistry, 2015) Jaumann, Tony; Balach, Juan; Klose, Markus; Oswald, Steffen; Langklotz, Ulrike; Michaelis, Alexander; Eckert, Jürgen; Giebeler, Lars
    Silicon is a promising negative electrode for secondary lithium-based batteries, but the electrochemical reversibility of particularly nanostructured silicon electrodes drastically depends on their interfacial characteristics, commonly known as the solid electrolyte interface (SEI). The beneficial origin of certain electrolyte additives or different binders is still discussed controversially owing to the challenging peculiarities of interfacial post-mortem investigations of electrodes. In this work, we address the common difficulties of SEI investigations of porous silicon/carbon nanostructures and study the addition of a fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) as a stabilizing additive as well as the use of two different binders, carboxymethyl cellulose/styrene-butadiene rubber (CMC/SBR) and polyacrylic acid (PAA), for the SEI formation. The electrode is composed of silicon nanocrystallites below 5 nm diameter allowing a detailed investigation of interfacial characteristics of silicon owing to the high surface area. We first performed galvanostatic long-term cycling (400 times) and carried out comprehensive ex situ characterization of the cycled nanocrystalline silicon electrodes with XRD, EDXS, TEM and XPS. We modified the preparation of the electrode for post-mortem characterization to distinguish between electrolyte components and the actual SEI. The impact of the FEC additive and two different binders on the interfacial layer is studied and the occurrence of diverse compounds, in particular LiF, Li2O and phosphates, is discussed. These results help to understand general issues in SEI formation and to pave the way for the development of advanced electrolytes allowing for a long-term performance of nanostructured Si-based electrodes.