Alexander C. Forse

In situ NMR and electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance techniques reveal the structure of the electrical double layer in supercapacitors

Supercapacitors store charge through the electrosorption of ions on microporous electrodes. Despite major efforts to understand this phenomenon, a molecular-level picture of the electrical double layer in working devices is still lacking as few techniques can selectively observe the ionic species at the electrode/electrolyte interface. Here, we use in situ NMR to directly quantify the populations of anionic and cationic species within a working microporous carbon supercapacitor electrode. Our results show that charge storage mechanisms are different for positively and negatively polarized electrodes for the electrolyte tetraethylphosphonium tetrafluoroborate in acetonitrile; for positive polarization charging proceeds by exchange of the cations for anions, whereas for negative polarization, cation adsorption dominates. In situ electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance measurements support the NMR results and indicate that adsorbed ions are only partially solvated. These results provide new molecular-level insight, with the methodology offering exciting possibilities for the study of pore/ion size, desolvation and other effects on charge storage in supercapacitors.

New Perspectives on the Charging Mechanisms of Supercapacitors

Supercapacitors (or electric double-layer capacitors) are high-power energy storage devices that store charge at the interface between porous carbon electrodes and an electrolyte solution. These devices are already employed in heavy electric vehicles and electronic devices, and can complement batteries in a more sustainable future. Their widespread application could be facilitated by the development of devices that can store more energy, without compromising their fast charging and discharging times. In situ characterization methods and computational modeling techniques have recently been developed to study the molecular mechanisms of charge storage, with the hope that better devices can be rationally designed. In this Perspective, we bring together recent findings from a range of experimental and computational studies to give a detailed picture of the charging mechanisms of supercapacitors. Nuclear magnetic resonance experiments and molecular dynamics simulations have revealed that the electrode pores contain a considerable number of ions in the absence of an applied charging potential. Experiments and computer simulations have shown that different charging mechanisms can then operate when a potential is applied, going beyond the traditional view of charging by counter-ion adsorption. It is shown that charging almost always involves ion exchange (swapping of co-ions for counter-ions), and rarely occurs by counter-ion adsorption alone. We introduce a charging mechanism parameter that quantifies the mechanism and allows comparisons between different systems. The mechanism is found to depend strongly on the polarization of the electrode, and the choice of the electrolyte and electrode materials. In light of these advances we identify new directions for supercapacitor research. Further experimental and computational work is needed to explain the factors that control supercapacitor charging mechanisms, and to establish the links between mechanisms and performance. Increased understanding and control of charging mechanisms should lead to new strategies for developing next-generation supercapacitors with improved performances.

In Situ NMR Spectroscopy of Supercapacitors:Insight into the Charge Storage Mechanism

Electrochemical capacitors, commonly known as supercapacitors, are important energy storage devices with high power capabilities and long cycle lives. Here we report the development and application of in situ nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methodologies to study changes at the electrode–electrolyte interface in working devices as they charge and discharge. For a supercapacitor comprising activated carbon electrodes and an organic electrolyte, NMR experiments carried out at different charge states allow quantification of the number of charge storing species and show that there are at least two distinct charge storage regimes. At cell voltages below 0.75 V, electrolyte anions are increasingly desorbed from the carbon micropores at the negative electrode, while at the positive electrode there is little change in the number of anions that are adsorbed as the voltage is increased. However, above a cell voltage of 0.75 V, dramatic increases in the amount of adsorbed anions in the positive electrode are observed while anions continue to be desorbed at the negative electrode. NMR experiments with simultaneous cyclic voltammetry show that supercapacitor charging causes marked changes to the local environments of charge storing species, with periodic changes of their chemical shift observed. NMR calculations on a model carbon fragment show that the addition and removal of electrons from a delocalized system should lead to considerable increases in the nucleus-independent chemical shift of nearby species, in agreement with our experimental observations.

NMR Study of Ion Dynamics and Charge Storage in Ionic Liquid Supercapacitors

Ionic liquids are emerging as promising new electrolytes for supercapacitors. While their higher operating voltages allow the storage of more energy than organic electrolytes, they cannot currently compete in terms of power performance. More fundamental studies of the mechanism and dynamics of charge storage are required to facilitate the development and application of these materials. Here we demonstrate the application of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to study the structure and dynamics of ionic liquids confined in porous carbon electrodes. The measurements reveal that ionic liquids spontaneously wet the carbon micropores in the absence of any applied potential and that on application of a potential supercapacitor charging takes place by adsorption of counterions and desorption of co-ions from the pores. We find that adsorption and desorption of anions surprisingly plays a more dominant role than that of the cations. Having elucidated the charging mechanism, we go on to study the factors that affect the rate of ionic diffusion in the carbon micropores in an effort to understand supercapacitor charging dynamics. We show that the line shape of the resonance arising from adsorbed ions is a sensitive probe of their effective diffusion rate, which is found to depend on the ionic liquid studied, as well as the presence of any solvent additives. Taken as whole, our NMR measurements allow us to rationalize the power performances of different electrolytes in supercapacitors.

Nuclear magnetic resonance study of ion adsorption on microporous carbide-derived carbon

A detailed understanding of ion adsorption within porous carbon is key to the design and improvement of electric double-layer capacitors, more commonly known as supercapacitors. In this work nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is used to study ion adsorption in porous carbide-derived carbons. These predominantly microporous materials have a tuneable pore size which enables a systematic study of the effect of pore size on ion adsorption. Multinuclear NMR experiments performed on the electrolyte anions and cations reveal two main environments inside the carbon. In-pore ions (observed at low frequencies) are adsorbed inside the pores, whilst ex-pore ions (observed at higher frequencies) are not adsorbed and are in large reservoirs of electrolyte between carbon particles. All our experiments were carried out in the absence of an applied electrical potential in order to assess the mechanisms related to ion adsorption without the contribution of electrosorption. Our results indicate similar adsorption behaviour for anions and cations. Furthermore, we probe the effect of sample orientation, which is shown to have a marked effect on the NMR spectra. Finally, we show that a (13)C →(1)H cross polarisation experiment enables magnetisation transfer from the carbon architecture to the adsorbed species, allowing selective observation of the adsorbed ions and confirming our spectral assignments.

Metal–Organic Nanosheets Formed via Defect-Mediated Transformation of a Hafnium Metal–Organic Framework

We report a hafnium-containing MOF, hcp UiO-67(Hf), which is a ligand-deficient layered analogue of the face-centered cubic fcu UiO-67(Hf). hcp UiO-67 accommodates its lower ligand:metal ratio compared to fcu UiO-67 through a new structural mechanism: the formation of a condensed “double cluster” (Hf12O8(OH)14), analogous to the condensation of coordination polyhedra in oxide frameworks. In oxide frameworks, variable stoichiometry can lead to more complex defect structures, e.g., crystallographic shear planes or modules with differing compositions, which can be the source of further chemical reactivity; likewise, the layered hcp UiO-67 can react further to reversibly form a two-dimensional metal–organic framework, hxl UiO-67. Both three-dimensional hcp UiO-67 and two-dimensional hxl UiO-67 can be delaminated to form metal–organic nanosheets. Delamination of hcp UiO-67 occurs through the cleavage of strong hafnium-carboxylate bonds and is effected under mild conditions, suggesting that defect-ordered MOFs could be a productive route to porous two-dimensional materials.

Lattice simulation method to model diffusion and NMR spectra in porous materials

A coarse-grained simulation method to predict nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of ions diffusing in porous carbons is proposed. The coarse-grained model uses input from molecular dynamics simulations such as the free-energy profile for ionic adsorption, and density-functional theory calculations are used to predict the NMR chemical shift of the diffusing ions. The approach is used to compute NMR spectra of ions in slit pores with pore widths ranging from 2 to 10 nm. As diffusion inside pores is fast, the NMR spectrum of an ion trapped in a single mesopore will be a sharp peak with a pore size dependent chemical shift. To account for the experimentally observed NMR line shapes, our simulations must model the relatively slow exchange between different pores. We show that the computed NMR line shapes depend on both the pore size distribution and the spatial arrangement of the pores. The technique presented in this work provides a tool to extract information about the spatial distribution of pore sizes from NMR spectra. Such information is difficult to obtain from other characterisation techniques.

Carbon electrodes for energy storage: General discussion

Yury Gogotsi, Dirk Guldi, Richard McCreery, Chi-Chang Hu, Celine Merlet, Francois Beguin, Laurence Hardwick, Elzbieta Frackowiak, Julie Macpherson, Alexander Forse, George Zheng Chen, Katherine Holt, Robert Dryfe, Heisi Kurig, Surbhi Sharma, Patrick R. Unwin, Thomas Rabbow, Wanjing Yu, Fulian Qiu, Fernanda Juarez, Christopher Sole, Boris Dyatkin, Keith Stevenson, Yong Cao, Nico Cousens and Asa Noofeli