Ncholu I. Manyala

Magnetoresistance from quantum interference effects in ferromagnets

The desire to maximize the sensitivity of read/write heads (and thus the information density) of magnetic storage devices has stimulated interest in the discovery and design of new magnetic materials exhibiting magnetoresistance. Recent discoveries include the ‘colossal’ magnetoresistance in the manganites and the enhanced magnetoresistance in low-carrier-density ferromagnets. An important feature of these systems is that the electrons involved in electrical conduction are different from those responsible for the magnetism. The latter are localized and act as scattering sites for the mobile electrons, and it is the field tuning of the scattering strength that ultimately gives rise to the observed magnetoresistance. Here we argue that magnetoresistance can arise by a different mechanism in certain ferromagnets—quantum interference effects rather than simple scattering. The ferromagnets in question are disordered, low-carrier-density magnets where the same electrons are responsible for both the magnetic properties and electrical conduction. The resulting magnetoresistance is positive (that is, the resistance increases in response to an applied magnetic field) and only weakly temperature-dependent below the Curie point.

Large anomalous Hall effect in a silicon-based magnetic semiconductor

Magnetic semiconductors are attracting great interest because of their potential use for spintronics, a new technology that merges electronics with the manipulation of conduction electron spins. (GaMn)As and (GaMn)N have recently emerged as the most popular materials for this new technology, and although their Curie temperatures are rising towards room temperature, these materials can only be fabricated in thin-film form, are heavily defective, and are not obviously compatible with Si. We show here that it is productive to consider transition metal monosilicides as potential alternatives. In particular, we report the discovery that the bulk metallic magnets derived from doping the narrow-gap insulator FeSi with Co share the very high anomalous Hall conductance of (GaMn)As, while displaying Curie temperatures as high as 53 K. Our work opens up a new arena for spintronics, involving a bulk material based only on transition metals and Si, which displays large magnetic-field effects on its electrical properties.

Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of High-Voltage Nanostructured LiMn1.5Ni0.5O4 Spinel: Tuning the Mn3+ Content and Electrochemical Performance

The LiMn1.5Ni0.5O4 spinel is an important lithium ion battery cathode material that has continued to receive major research attention because of its high operating voltage (∼4.8 V). This study interrogates the impact of microwave irradiation on the Mn(3+) concentration and electrochemistry of the LiMn1.5Ni0.5O4 spinel. It is shown that microwave is capable of tuning the Mn(3+) content of the spinel for enhanced electrochemical performance (high capacity, high capacity retention, excellent rate capability, and fast Li(+) insertion/extraction kinetics). This finding promises to revolutionize the application of microwave irradiation for improved performance of the LiMn1.5Ni0.5O4 spinel, especially in high rate applications.

High-performance symmetric electrochemical capacitor based on graphene foam and nanostructured manganese oxide

We have fabricated a symmetric electrochemical capacitor with high energy and power densities based on a composite of graphene foam (GF) with ∼80 wt% of manganese oxide (MnO2) deposited by hydrothermal synthesis. Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements showed the presence of nanocrystalline MnO2 on the GF, while scanning and transmission electron microscopies showed needle-like manganese oxide coated and anchored onto the surface of graphene. Electrochemical measurements of the composite electrode gave a specific capacitance of 240 Fg−1 at a current density of 0.1 Ag−1 for symmetric supercapacitors using a two-electrode configuration. A maximum energy density of 8.3 Whkg−1 was obtained, with power density of 20 kWkg−1 and no capacitance loss after 1000 cycles. GF is an excellent support for pseudo-capacitive oxide materials such as MnO2, and the composite electrode provided a high energy density due to a combination of double-layer and redox capacitance mechanisms.

Doping a semiconductor to create an unconventional metal.

Landau–Fermi liquid theory, with its pivotal assertion that electrons in metals can be simply understood as independent particles with effective masses replacing the free electron mass, has been astonishingly successful. This is true despite the Coulomb interactions an electron experiences from the host crystal lattice, lattice defects and the other ∼1022 cm-3 electrons. An important extension to the theory accounts for the behaviour of doped semiconductors. Because little in the vast literature on materials contradicts Fermi liquid theory and its extensions, exceptions have attracted great attention, and they include the high-temperature superconductors, silicon-based field-effect transistors that host two-dimensional metals, and certain rare-earth compounds at the threshold of magnetism. The origin of the non-Fermi liquid behaviour in all of these systems remains controversial. Here we report that an entirely different and exceedingly simple class of materials—doped small-bandgap semiconductors near a metal–insulator transition—can also display a non-Fermi liquid state. Remarkably, a modest magnetic field functions as a switch which restores the ordinary disordered Fermi liquid. Our data suggest that we have found a physical realization of the only mathematically rigorous route to a non-Fermi liquid, namely the ‘undercompensated Kondo effect’, where there are too few mobile electrons to compensate for the spins of unpaired electrons localized on impurity atoms.

Renewable pine cone biomass derived carbon materials for supercapacitor application

The environmental degradation and hazard to human life caused by the depletion of fossils fuels and the urgent need for sustainable energy sources to meet the rising demand in energy has led to the exploration of novel materials that are environmentally friendly, low cost and less hazardous to human life for energy storage application using the green chemistry approach. Herein, we report on the transformation of the readily abundant pine cone biomass into porous carbon via KOH activation and carbonization at 800 °C as electrode materials for supercapacitors. The porous carbon material exhibited a mesoporous framework with a specific surface area of 1515 m2 g−1, a high voltage window of 2.0 V, a gravimetric capacitance of 137 F g−1, energy density of 19 W h kg−1 and excellent cyclability in neutral 1 M Na2SO4 electrolyte for a symmetric carbon/carbon electrode cell. The result shows that the material is robust and shows great promise with neutral electrolytes in high-performance energy-storage devices.

Asymmetric supercapacitor based on VS2 nanosheets and activated carbon materials

An asymmetric supercapacitor was fabricated using VS2 nanosheets as the positive electrode and activated carbon (AC) as the negative electrode, with a 6 M KOH solution as electrolyte. These materials were combined to maximize the specific capacitance and enlarge the potential window, therefore improving the energy density of the device. A specific capacitance of 155 F g−1 at 1 A g−1 with a maximum energy density as high as 42 W h kg−1 and a power density of 700 W kg−1 was obtained for the asymmetric supercapacitor within the voltage range of 0–1.4 V. The supercapacitor also exhibited good stability, with ∼99% capacitance retention and no capacitance loss after 5000 cycles at a current density of 2 A g−1.

High performance asymmetric supercapacitor based on molybdenum disulphide/graphene foam and activated carbon from expanded graphite.

Molybdenum disulphide which has a graphene-like single layer structure has excellent mechanical and electrical properties and unique morphology, which might be used with graphene foam as composite in supercapacitor applications. In this work, Molybdenum disulphide (MoS2)/graphene foam (GF) composites with different graphene foam loading were synthesized by the hydrothermal process to improve on specific capacitance of the composites. Asymmetric supercapacitor device was fabricated using the best performing MoS2/GF composite and activated carbon derived from expanded graphite (AEG) as positive and negative electrodes, respectively, in 6M KOH electrolyte. The asymmetric MoS2/GF//AEG device exhibited a maximum specific capacitance of 59Fg-1 at a current density of 1Ag-1 with maximum energy and power densities of 16Whkg-1 and 758Wkg-1, respectively. The supercapacitor also exhibited a good cyclic stability with 95% capacitance retention over 2000 constant charge-discharge cycles. The results obtained demonstrate the potential of MoS2/GF//AEG as a promising material for electrochemical energy storage application.

Asymmetric supercapacitor based on an α-MoO3 cathode and porous activated carbon anode materials

Low cost porous carbon materials were produced from cheap polymer materials and graphene foam materials which were tested as a negative electrode material in an asymmetric cell configuration with α-MoO3 as a positive electrode. These materials were paired to maximize the specific capacitance and to extend the potential window, hence improving the energy density of the device. The asymmetrical device exhibits significantly higher energy density of 16.75 W h kg−1 and a power density of 325 W kg−1.

High performance asymmetric supercapacitor based on CoAl-LDH/GF and activated carbon from expanded graphite

An asymmetric supercapacitor fabricated with a CoAl-layered double hydroxide/graphene foam (LDH/GF) composite as the positive electrode and activated carbon derived from expanded graphite (AEG) as the negative electrode in aqueous 6 M KOH electrolyte is reported. This CoAl-LDH/GF//AEG cell achieved a specific capacitance of 101.4 F g−1 at a current density of 0.5 A g−1 with a maximum energy density as high as 28 W h kg−1 and a power density of 1420 W kg−1. Furthermore, the supercapacitor also exhibited an excellent cycling stability with ∼100% capacitance retention after 5000 charging–discharging cycles at a current density of 2 A g−1. The results obtained show the potential use of the CoAl-LDH/GF//AEG material as a suitable electrode for enhanced energy storage in supercapacitors.