RESUMEN
Herein, a soft-template strategy involving the cationic surfactants has been successfully applied to size-controlled synthesis of hierarchical porous Fe-N/C for the first time. Specifically, a small amount of Fe and cationic surfactants can be uniformly doped into the zinc-based zeolite imidazole framework (ZIF-8) crystal particles and the cationic surfactants play a critical role in the formation of hierarchically porous Fe-ZIF-8@surfactant precursors. When the Fe-ZIF-8@surfactant is subsequently pyrolyzed, atomically dispersed Fe-Nx coordination structures can be in-situ converted to Fe-N/C, while the cationic surfactants decompose to form a carbon matrix to encapsulate the active sites, thereby preventing the aggregation of nanoparticles to a certain extent. As a result, the combined Fe nanocrystals and atomically dispersed Fe-Nx in the graphitic carbon matrix generate a synergistic effect to boost the electrocatalytic behaviors with a more positive half-wave potential (0.92 V) for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and a lower overpotential (420 mV at 10 mA cm-2) for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). As a proof of concept, the Fe-N/C@TTAB based zinc-air batteries (ZABs) present an outstanding peak power density (107.9 mW cm-2) and a superior specific capacity (706.3 mAh g-1) with robust cycling stability over 900 cycles for 150 h, which are better than the commercial Pt/C + IrO2 based ZABs.
RESUMEN
The relatively low output performance of triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), which faces a challenge in performance improvement, limits its practical applications. Here, a high-performance TENG consisting of a silicon carbide@silicon dioxide nanowhiskers/polydimethylsiloxane (SiC@SiO2/PDMS) nanocomposite film and a superhydrophobic aluminum (Al) plate as triboelectric layers is demonstrated. The 7 wt% SiC@SiO2/PDMS TENG presents a peak voltage of 200 V and a peak current of 30 µA, which are ~ 300 and ~ 500% over that of the PDMS TENG, owing to an increase in dielectric constant and a decrease in dielectric loss of the PDMS film because of electric insulated SiC@SiO2 nanowhiskers. Furthermore, a 10 µF capacitor can be charged up to 3 V within ~ 87 s, which can be continuously operated on the electronic watch for 14 s. The work provides an effective strategy for improving output performance of TENG by adding core-shell nanowhiskers to modulate the dielectric properties of organic materials.
RESUMEN
The portable power bank as an energy storage device has received tremendous attention while the limited capacity and periodical charging are critical issues. Here, a self-charging power system (SCPS) consisting of a 0.94(Bi0.5 Na0.5 )TiO3 -0.06Ba(Zr0.25 Ti0.75 )O3 /polyvinylidenefluoride (BNT-BZT/PVDF) composite film-based triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is designed as a wind energy harvester and an all-solid-state lithium-ion battery (ASSLIB) as the energy storage device. The optimized TENG can provide an output voltage of ≈400 V, a current of ≈45 µA, and a maximum power of ≈10.65 mW, respectively. The ASSLIB assembled by LiNiCoMnO2 as the cathode, NiCo2 S4 as the anode, and Li7 La3 Zr2 O12 as the solid electrolyte can maintain a discharge capacity of 51.3 µAh after 200 cycles with a Coulombic efficiency of 98.5%. Particularly, an ASSLIB can be easily charged up to 3.8 V in 58 min using the wind-driven TENG, which can continuously drive 12 parallel-connected white light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or a pH meter. This work demonstrates the development of low-cost, high-performance and high-safety SCPSs and their large-scale practical application in self-powered microelectronic devices.
RESUMEN
Hierarchical, ultrathin, and porous NiMoO4@CoMoO4 on Co3O4 hollow bones were successfully designed and synthesized by a hydrothermal route from the Co-precursor, followed by a KOH (potassium hydroxide) activation process. The hydrothermally synthesized Co3O4 nanowires act as the scaffold for anchoring the NiMoO4@CoMoO4 units but also show more compatibility with NiMoO4, leading to high conductivity in the heterojunction. The intriguing morphological features endow the hierarchical Co3O4@NiMoO4@CoMoO4 better electrochemical performance where the capacity of the Co3O4@NiMoO4@CoMoO4 heterojunction being 272 mA·h·g-1 at 1 A·g-1 can be achieved with a superior retention of 84.5% over 1000 cycles. The enhanced utilization of single/few NiMoO4@CoMoO4 shell layers on the Co3O4 core make it easy to accept extra electrons, enhancing the adsorption of OH- at the shell surface, which contribute to the high capacity. In our work, an asymmetric supercapacitor utilizing the optimized Co3O4@NiMoO4@CoMoO4 activated carbon (AC) as electrode materials was assembled, namely, Co3O4@NiMoO4@CoMoO4//AC device, yielding a maximum high energy density of 53.9 W·h·kg-1 at 1000 W·kg-1. It can retain 25.92 W·h·kg-1 even at 8100 W·kg-1, revealing its potential and viability for applications. The good power densities are ascribed to the porous feature from the robust architecture with recreated abundant mesopores on the composite, which assure improved conductivity and enhanced diffusion of OH- and also the electron transport. The work demonstrated here holds great promise for synthesizing other heterojunction materials M3O4@MMoO4@MMoO4 (M = Fe, Ni, Sn, etc).