Nousheen Iqbal

Highly flexible NiCo2O4/CNTs doped carbon nanofibers for CO2 adsorption and supercapacitor electrodes.

Controllable synthesis of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) with hierarchical porosity and high flexibility are extremely desirable for CO2 adsorption and energy storage applications. Herein, we report a nickel cobaltite/carbon nanotubes doped CNFs (NiCo2O4/CNTs CNFs) mesoporous membrane that shows well-developed flexibility, tailored pore structure, hydrophobic character, and high stability. Ascribed to these unique features, NiCo2O4/CNTs CNFs membrane shows high CO2 capture of 1.54mmol/g at 25°C and 1.0bar, and electrochemical measurements for supercapacitors exhibit good performance with specific capacitances of 220F/g (in 1M KOH) at a current density of 1A/g. The successful synthesis of such hybrid membrane provides new insight into development of various multifunctional applications.

In situ synthesis of carbon nanotube doped metal–organic frameworks for CO2 capture

Metal organic–frameworks (MOFs) with intriguing structural motifs and unique properties are potential candidates for carbon dioxide (CO2) storage. Although structures with the single functional constructions and micropores were demonstrated to capture CO2 with high capacities at low temperature, their feeble interactions still limit practical applications at room temperature. Herein, we report in situ growth observation of hierarchical pores in copper(II) benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate (Cu-BTC) doped MOFs which gives high adsorption and enhances the CO2 binding ability. Thus, understanding this CO2-capturing mechanism, which has been causing controversy, is crucial for further development toward advanced study. The doped MOFs exhibit high specific surface areas of 1180 m2 g−1 and show good capacity to store CO2, which is mainly due to the presence of acid and amine functionalized CNTs and a large amount of narrow micropores (<1.0 nm).

Cobalt oxide nanoparticles embedded in flexible carbon nanofibers: attractive material for supercapacitor electrodes and CO2 adsorption

Introducing flexibility and high porosity into carbon nanofibers (CNFs) is one of the critical challenges for the next generation of multifunctional energy storage and CO2 adsorption materials. Herein, we developed an efficient strategy for the controllable fabrication of a flexible and mechanically robust Co3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) doped CNFs (CNFs-Co) hybrid membrane via electrospinning and subsequent carbonization treatment. The quantitative pore size distribution and fractal analysis revealed that the CNFs-Co possessed a tunable porous structure with high surface area of 483 m2 g−1. Therefore, it exhibited exceptional performance in CO2 capture, i.e. a high CO2 adsorption capacity of 5.4 mmol g−1 at 1 bar and room temperature. Electrochemical measurements performed on CNFs-Co for supercapacitor applications demonstrated very high capacitance of up to ∼911 F g−1 at 5 mV s−1 (76% capacitance retention after 1000 cycles) in 1 M H2SO4 solution. The successful synthesis of this hybrid membrane may also provide new insights towards the development of materials for various multifunctional applications.

Flexible Fe 3 O 4 @Carbon Nanofibers Hierarchically Assembled with MnO 2 Particles for High-Performance Supercapacitor Electrodes

Increasing use of wearable electronic devices have resulted in enhanced demand for highly flexible supercapacitor electrodes with superior electrochemical performance. In this study, flexible composite membranes with electrosprayed MnO2 particles uniformly anchored on Fe3O4 doped electrospun carbon nanofibers (Fe3O4@CNFMn) have been prepared as flexible electrodes for high-performance supercapacitors. The interconnected porous beaded structure ensures free movement of electrolyte within the composite membranes, therefore, the developed supercapacitor electrodes not only offer high specific capacitance of ~306 F/g, but also exhibit good capacitance retention of ~85% after 2000 cycles, which certify that the synthesized electrodes offer high and stable electrochemical performance. Additionally, the supercapacitors fabricated from our developed electrodes well maintain their performance under flexural stress and exhibit a very minute change in specific capacitance even up to 180° bending angle. The developed electrode fabrication strategy integrating electrospinning and electrospray techniques paves new insights into the development of potential functional nanofibrous materials for light weight and flexible wearable supercapacitors.