Mechanically and chemically robust sandwich-structured C@Si@C nanotube array Li-ion battery anodes.

Stability and high energy densities are essential qualities for emerging battery electrodes. Because of its high specific capacity, silicon has been considered a promising anode candidate. However, the several-fold volume changes during lithiation and delithiation leads to fractures and continuous formation of an unstable solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer, resulting in rapid capacity decay. Here, we present a carbon-silicon-carbon (C@Si@C) nanotube sandwich structure that addresses the mechanical and chemical stability issues commonly associated with Si anodes. The C@Si@C nanotube array exhibits a capacity of ∼2200 mAh g(-1) (∼750 mAh cm(-3)), which significantly exceeds that of a commercial graphite anode, and a nearly constant Coulombic efficiency of ∼98% over 60 cycles. In addition, the C@Si@C nanotube array gives much better capacity and structure stability compared to the Si nanotubes without carbon coatings, the ZnO@C@Si@C nanorods, a Si thin film on Ni foam, and C@Si and Si@C nanotubes. In situ SEM during cycling shows that the tubes expand both inward and outward upon lithiation, as well as elongate, and then revert back to their initial size and shape after delithiation, suggesting stability during volume changes. The mechanical modeling indicates the overall plastic strain in a nanotube is much less than in a nanorod, which may significantly reduce low-cycle fatigue. The sandwich-structured nanotube design is quite general, and may serve as a guide for many emerging anode and cathode systems.

Hydrothermal fabrication of three-dimensional secondary battery anodes.

A generalized hydrothermal strategy for fabricating three-dimensional (3D) battery electrodes is presented. The hydrothermal growth deposits electrochemically active nanomaterials uniformly throughout the complex 3D mesostructure of the scaffold. Ni inverse opals coated with SnO2 nanoparticles or Co3O4 nanoplatelets, and SiO2 inverse opals coated with Fe3O4 are fabricated, all of which show attractive properties including good capacity retention and C-rate performances.

Electrochemically tunable thermal conductivity of lithium cobalt oxide.

Using time-domain thermoreflectance, the thermal conductivity and elastic properties of a sputter deposited LiCoO2 film, a common lithium-ion cathode material, are measured as a function of the degree of lithiation. Here we report that via in situ measurements during cycling, the thermal conductivity of a LiCoO2 cathode reversibly decreases from ~5.4 to 3.7 W m(-1) K(-1), and its elastic modulus decreases from 325 to 225 GPa, as it is delithiated from Li1.0CoO2 to Li0.6CoO2. The dependence of the thermal conductivity on lithiation appears correlated with the lithiation-dependent phase behaviour. The oxidation-state-dependent thermal conductivity of electrolytically active transition metal oxides provides opportunities for dynamic control of thermal conductivity and is important to understand for thermal management in electrochemical energy storage devices.

Preparation of porous hydroxyapatite with interconnected pore architecture.

Since pore connectivity has significant effects on the biological behaviors of biomedical porous hydroxyapatite (PHA), the preparation of PHA with interconnected pore architecture is of great practical significance. In the present study, PHA with highly interconnected architecture was prepared via a simple burnout route with rod-like urea as the porogen. Microscopy and porosimetry data showed that the as-prepared PHA had open and interconnected pore structure with the average fenestration size of about 120 microm. Open pores occupied up to 98% of the total porosity. The compressive strength and modulus of the as-prepared PHA were respectively 1.3-7.6 MPa and 4.0-10.4 GPa.

Preparation of fluoride-substituted hydroxyapatite by a molten salt synthesis route.

Fluoride-substituted hydroxyapatite (FHAp) with high thermal and morphologic stability was successfully prepared by a molten salt synthesis route. XRD patterns and FTIR spectra identified the synthesized powders as FHAp solid solution. The FHAp obtained with potassium sulfate as the flux showed the rod-like morphology without detectable decomposition up to 1300 degrees Celsius and the flux, sodium sulfate, led to the spheriodal FHAp. After investigating the effects of salt species on the FHAp morphologies, it was found that solubility was not the exclusive factor, which affected the morphological development of apatite powders, and the cations of molten salt species also played an important role.