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    Current Advances in TiO2-Based Nanostructure Electrodes for High Performance Lithium Ion Batteries
    (Basel : MDPI, 2018-2-6) Madian, Mahmoud; Eychmüller, Alexander; Giebeler, Lars
    The lithium ion battery (LIB) has proven to be a very reliably used system to store electrical energy, for either mobile or stationary applications. Among others, TiO2-based anodes are the most attractive candidates for building safe and durable lithium ion batteries with high energy density. A variety of TiO2 nanostructures has been thoroughly investigated as anodes in LIBs, e.g., nanoparticles, nanorods, nanoneedles, nanowires, and nanotubes discussed either in their pure form or in composites. In this review, we present the recent developments and breakthroughs demonstrated to synthesize safe, high power, and low cost nanostructured titania-based anodes. The reader is provided with an in-depth review of well-oriented TiO2-based nanotubes fabricated by anodic oxidation. Other strategies for modification of TiO2-based anodes with other elements or materials are also highlighted in this report.
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    Textured Sb2Te3 films and GeTe/Sb2Te3 superlattices grown on amorphous substrates by molecular beam epitaxy
    (New York : American Institute of Physics, 2017) Boschker, Jos E.; Tisbi, E.; Placidi, E.; Momand, Jamo; Redaelli, Andrea; Kooi, Bart J.; Arciprete, Fabrizio; Calarco, Raffaella
    The realization of textured films of 2-dimensionally (2D) bonded materials on amorphous substrates is important for the integration of this material class with silicon based technology. Here, we demonstrate the successful growth by molecular beam epitaxy of textured Sb2Te3 films and GeTe/Sb2Te3 superlattices on two types of amorphous substrates: carbon and SiO2. X-ray diffraction measurements reveal that the out-of-plane alignment of grains in the layers has a mosaic spread with a full width half maximum of 2.8°. We show that a good texture on SiO2 is only obtained for an appropriate surface preparation, which can be performed by ex situ exposure to Ar+ ions or by in situ exposure to an electron beam. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals that this surface preparation procedure results in reduced oxygen content. Finally, it is observed that film delamination can occur when a capping layer is deposited on top of a superlattice with a good texture. This is attributed to the stress in the capping layer and can be prevented by using optimized deposition conditions of the capping layer. The obtained results are also relevant to the growth of other 2D materials on amorphous substrates.
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    Vanadium pentoxide/carbide-derived carbon core-shell hybrid particles for high performance electrochemical energy storage
    (London [u.a.] : RSC, 2016) Zeiger, Marco; Ariyanto, Teguh; Krüner, Benjamin; Peter, Nicolas J.; Fleischmann, Simon; Etzold, Bastian J.M.; Presser, Volker
    A novel, two step synthesis is presented combining the formation of carbide-derived carbon (CDC) and redox-active vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) in a core–shell manner using solely vanadium carbide (VC) as the precursor. In a first step, the outer part of VC particles is transformed to nanoporous CDC owing to the in situ formation of chlorine gas from NiCl2 at 700 °C. In a second step, the remaining VC core is calcined in synthetic air to obtain V2O5/CDC core–shell particles. Materials characterization by means of electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction clearly demonstrates the partial transformation from VC to CDC, as well as the successive oxidation to V2O5/CDC core–shell particles. Electrochemical performance was tested in organic 1 M LiClO4 in acetonitrile using half- and asymmetric full-cell configuration. High specific capacities of 420 mA h g−1 (normalized to V2O5) and 310 mA h g−1 (normalized to V2O5/CDC) were achieved. The unique nanotextured core–shell architecture enables high power retention with ultrafast charging and discharging, achieving more than 100 mA h g−1 at 5 A g−1 (rate of 12C). Asymmetric cell design with CDC on the positive polarization side leads to a high specific energy of up to 80 W h kg−1 with a superior retention of more than 80% over 10 000 cycles and an overall energy efficiency of up to 80% at low rates.
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    The interplay between spin densities and magnetic superexchange interactions: Case studies of monoand trinuclear bis(oxamato)-type complexes
    (Frankfurt am Main : Beilstein-Institut zur Förderung der Chemischen Wissenschaften, 2017) Aliabadi, A.; Büchner, B.; Kataev, V.; Rüffer, T.
    For future molecular spintronic applications the possibility to modify and tailor the magnetic properties of transition-metal complexes is very promising. One of such possibilities is given by the countless derivatization offered by carbon chemistry. They allow for altering chemical structures and, in doing so, to tune magnetic properties of molecular spin-carrying compounds. With emphasis on the interplay of the spin density distribution of mononuclear and magnetic superexchange couplings of trinuclear bis(oxamato)- type complexes we review on efforts on such magneto-structural correlations.