Donghua Tian

High-Performance Aluminum-Ion Battery with CuS@C Microsphere Composite Cathode

On the basis of low-cost, rich resources, and safety performance, aluminum-ion batteries have been regarded as a promising candidate for next-generation energy storage batteries in large-scale energy applications. A rechargeable aluminum-ion battery has been fabricated based on a 3D hierarchical copper sulfide (CuS) microsphere composed of nanoflakes as cathode material and room-temperature ionic liquid containing AlCl3 and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([EMIm]Cl) as electrolyte. The aluminum-ion battery with a microsphere electrode exhibits a high average discharge voltage of ∼1.0 V vs Al/AlCl4-, reversible specific capacity of about 90 mA h g-1 at 20 mA g-1, and good cyclability of nearly 100% Coulombic efficiency after 100 cycles. Such remarkable electrochemical performance is attributed to the well-defined nanostructure of the cathode material facilitating the electron and ion transfer, especially for chloroaluminate ions with large size, which is desirable for aluminum-ion battery applications.

A Novel Ultrafast Rechargeable Multi-Ions Battery

An ultrafast rechargeable multi-ions battery is presented, in which multi-ions can electrochemically intercalate into graphite layers, exhibiting a high reversible discharge capacity of ≈100 mAh g-1 and a Coulombic efficiency of ≈99% over hundreds of cycles at a high current density. The results may open up a new paradigm for multi-ions-based electrochemical battery technologies and applications.

Flower-like Vanadium Suflide/Reduced Graphene Oxide Composite: An Energy Storage Material for Aluminum-Ion Batteries

A flower-like vanadium sulfide/reduced graphene oxide (VS4 /rGO) composite was prepared by a typical hydrothermal method and it was investigated as cathode for aluminum-ion batteries with non-inflammable and non-explosive ionic-liquid electrolytes. The charge/discharge performance measurements were performed in a voltage range of 0.1-2.0 V versus Al/AlCl4- , which gave an initial charge/discharge specific capacity af approximately 491.57 and 406.94 mA h g-1 , respectively, at a current density of 100 mA g-1 . Additionally, in the cycling performance, the discharge capacity was observed to remain over 80, 70, and 60 mA h g-1 at current densities of 100, 200, and 300 mA g-1 after 100 cycles, respectively. The result of a coulombic efficiency over 90 % after 100 cycles and high retained capacity indicate that the composite is a favorable cathode material for new rechargeable aluminum-ion batteries.

Production of Ti–Fe alloys via molten oxide electrolysis at a liquid iron cathode

This work studies the direct electrochemical preparation of Ti–Fe alloys through molten oxide electrolysis (MOE) at a liquid iron cathode. Cyclic voltammetry and potentiostatic electrolysis have been employed to study the cathodic process of titanium ions. The results show that cathodic behavior happens during the negative sweep at a potential range from −0.80 to −1.25 V (vs. QRE-Mo), corresponding to the electro-reduction of titanium ions. Importantly, Ti–Fe and titanium-rich Ti–Fe alloys have been successfully produced by galvanostatic electrolysis at different current densities of 0.15 and 0.30 A cm−2, respectively. The results show that it is feasible to directly prepare Ti–Fe alloys by the MOE method at a liquid iron cathode.

A nitrogen-doped graphene cathode for high-capacitance aluminum-ion hybrid supercapacitors

It is extremely important to design and fabricate high capacitance and stable Coulombic efficiency capacitors for energy storage. Herein, nitrogen-doped graphene coated on flexible tantalum foil is developed as a cathode for aluminum-ion hybrid supercapacitors which are based on an ionic liquid electrolyte with 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([EMIm]Cl)/AlCl3. The results demonstrate that the nitrogen-doped graphene cathode offers a high capacitance of 254 F g−1, a Coulombic efficiency of ∼90% and a cycle life of 1000 at a current density of 0.3 A g−1. Meanwhile, the nitrogen-doped graphene cathode shows a capacitance of ∼130 F g−1, a Coulombic efficiency of almost 100% and a cycle life of 2000 at a higher current density of 2.0 A g−1. Moreover, the energy storage mechanism of the nitrogen-doped graphene in the aluminum-ion hybrid supercapacitors, that is, the dominant electrical double-layer capacitance (the adsorption and desorption of AlCi4− on the surface), and the intercalation/deintercalation in the nitrogen doped graphene, are confirmed.

Ni0.36Al0.10Cu0.30Fe0.24 Metallic Inert Anode for the Electrochemical Production of Fe-Ni Alloy in Molten K2CO3-Na2CO3

In this paper, a Ni0.36Al0.10Cu0.30Fe0.24 metallic inert anode was proposed and the electrochemical behaviors were studied in molten K2CO3-Na2CO3 at 1023 K by polarization curves and Tafel plots. The results indicated that Ni0.36Al0.10Cu0.30Fe0.24 alloy was stable in carbonate due to the formation of a passivation film on the surface. The film was mainly composed of NiFe2O4 and Al2O3 with a dense structure, which inhibited further corrosion of anode. Moreover, oxygen gas and Fe-Ni alloy have been successfully generated through electrolysis with NiO-Fe2O3 pellet as cathode and Ni0.36Al0.10Cu0.30Fe0.24 alloy as anode under a potential of 1.9 V for 24 hours. Ni0.36Al0.10Cu0.30Fe0.24 alloy exhibited bright prospect as a potential candidate of inert anode for green metallurgical process.