Bin Luo

Adaptable Silicon-Carbon Nanocables Sandwiched between Reduced Graphene Oxide Sheets as Lithium Ion Battery Anodes

Silicon has been touted as one of the most promising anode materials for next generation lithium ion batteries. Yet, how to build energetic silicon-based electrode architectures by addressing the structural and interfacial stability issues facing silicon anodes still remains a big challenge. Here, we develop a novel kind of self-supporting binder-free silicon-based anodes via the encapsulation of silicon nanowires (SiNWs) with dual adaptable apparels (overlapped graphene (G) sheaths and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) overcoats). In the resulted architecture (namely, SiNW@G@RGO), the overlapped graphene sheets, as adaptable but sealed sheaths, prevent the direct exposure of encapsulated silicon to the electrolyte and enable the structural and interfacial stabilization of silicon nanowires. Meanwhile, the flexible and conductive RGO overcoats accommodate the volume change of embedded SiNW@G nanocables and thus maintain the structural and electrical integrity of the SiNW@G@RGO. As a result, the SiNW@G@RGO electrodes exhibit high reversible specific capacity of 1600 mAh g⁻¹ at 2.1 A g⁻¹, 80% capacity retention after 100 cycles, and superior rate capability (500 mAh g⁻¹ at 8.4 A g⁻¹) on the basis of the total electrode weight.

Two dimensional graphene–SnS2 hybrids with superior rate capability for lithium ion storage

A novel porous nanoarchitecture composed of 2D graphene–SnS2 (G–SnS2) units is developed via a two-step approach in this work. The special structure endows the high-rate transportation of electrolyte ions and electrons throughout the electrode matrix, resulting in remarkable electrochemical performance when it was used as anode in lithium ion batteries.

Renewing Functionalized Graphene as Electrodes for High‐Performance Supercapacitors

An acid-assisted ultrarapid thermal strategy is developed for constructing specifically functionalized graphene. The electrochemical performance of functionalized graphene can be boosted via elaborate coupling between the pseudocapacitance and the electronic double layer capacitance through rationally tailoring the structure of graphene sheets. This presents an opportunity for developing further high-performance graphene-based electrodes to bridge the performance gap between traditional capacitors and batteries.

Graphene‐Confined Sn Nanosheets with Enhanced Lithium Storage Capability

Novel graphene-confined tin nanosheets (G/Sn/G) are constructed using an elaborately designed glucose-assisted chemical protocol. The as-synthesized G/Sn/G are featured with significantly enhanced lithium storage properties when compared with other graphene-based 0D/2D composite nanostructures, disclosing the merits of the 2D/2D composite featured with a surface-to-surface integration formula between graphene and the second 2D phase.

Contact‐Engineered and Void‐Involved Silicon/Carbon Nanohybrids as Lithium‐Ion‐Battery Anodes

A novel anode structure composed of silicon nanowires dwelling in graphitic tubes is developed. The thus-fabricated 1D/1D hybrid structure exhibits good rate capability and remarkable cycling stability, which mainly originates from their structural advantages including the built-in void spaces and the robust line-to-line contact mode between the components.

Reduced Graphene Oxide‐Mediated Growth of Uniform Tin‐Core/Carbon‐Sheath Coaxial Nanocables with Enhanced Lithium Ion Storage Properties

Tin-core/carbon-sheath coaxial nanocables directly integrated into a reduced graphene oxide (RGO) surface are constructed by a new strategy involving a RGO-mediated procedure. The as-synthesized nanocables, with uniform diameter and high aspect ratio, are versatile and exhibit excellent lithium storage properties, as revealed by electrochemical evaluation.

Design and construction of three dimensional graphene-based composites for lithium ion battery applications

Three dimensional graphene-based composites (3DGCs) have attracted significant attention for lithium ion battery applications due to their unique structures and attractive properties. A large number of 3DGCs with novel structures and functions have been developed in the past few years. This review summarizes the current progress of 3DGCs, including their preparation and application in lithium ion batteries, especially from the viewpoint of structural and interfacial engineering, which have attracted more and more attention for the development of high performance electrode systems.

The dimensionality of Sn anodes in Li-ion batteries

As a potential anode material, tin (Sn) has attracted great attention due to its low cost and its high theoretical specific capacity. However, its electrochemical performance is strongly related to its structure, including the crystalline nature, particle size, dimensionality, interface, and so on. In this review article, we will outline Sn-based nanomaterials with different dimensionalities from 0D to 3D, covering the synthesis procedures and their structure-related electrochemical performances when applied as anode materials in lithium ion batteries (LIBs). By discussing their structural dimensionalities, we aim to provide some scientific insights into the development of advanced Sn-based anode nanomaterials for next-generation LIBs.

High Volumetric Capacity Silicon-Based Lithium Battery Anodes by Nanoscale System Engineering

The nanostructuring of silicon (Si) has recently received great attention, as it holds potential to deal with the dramatic volume change of Si and thus improve lithium storage performance. Unfortunately, such transformative materials design principle has generally been plagued by the relatively low tap density of Si and hence mediocre volumetric capacity (and also volumetric energy density) of the battery. Here, we propose and demonstrate an electrode consisting of a textured silicon@graphitic carbon nanowire array. Such a unique electrode structure is designed based on a nanoscale system engineering strategy. The resultant electrode prototype exhibits unprecedented lithium storage performance, especially in terms of volumetric capacity, without the expense of compromising other components of the battery. The fabrication method is simple and scalable, providing new avenues for the rational engineering of Si-based electrodes simultaneously at the individual materials unit scale and the materials ensemble scale.

Terephthalonitrile-derived nitrogen-rich networks for high performance supercapacitors

A novel high performance electrode material for supercapacitor applications, terephthalonitrile-derived nitrogen-rich network (TNN), is developed successfully via temperature-dependent cross-linking of terephthalonitrile monomers. This work opens up a new window for seeing a versatile modular toolbox derived from various aromatic nitrile monomers for developing better electrode materials in the future.