Pranav K. Tripathi

Mesoporous size controllable carbon microspheres and their electrochemical performances for supercapacitor electrodes

In this paper, size controllable SiO2 nanoparticles synthesized by adjusting the hydrolysis–condensation time and the concentration of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) in ethanol–water solution in the presence of ammonia as a catalyst were encapsulated within resorcinol–formaldehyde polymer microspheres which were fabricated in the same ethanol–water–ammonia system. After carbonization and following etching with NaOH solution, a series of mesoporous carbon microspheres (MCMs) with an average diameter of 500 nm, a mesopore size of 3.2–14 nm and surface areas of 659–872 m2 g−1 are obtained. As electrode materials for supercapacitors, typical samples of MCMs with a mesopore size of 3.2 nm and 13.5 nm show an initial specific capacitance of 289 and 268 F g−1 under a current density of 1.0 A g−1. After 10 000 charge–discharge cycles, the specific capacity remains 261 and 254 F g−1 with the retention of 90.3% and 94.7%. Besides, electrochemical performances influenced by the mesopore size were investigated.

Novel mesoporous Si@C microspheres as anodes for lithium-ion batteries

In this paper, we demonstrate the design and synthesis of novel mesoporous Si@C microspheres as anode materials for high-performance lithium-ion batteries. SiO2 nanoparticles modified with hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide are enveloped within resorcinol-formaldehyde polymer microspheres which form in the ethanol-water-ammonia system. Mesoporous voids between Si nanoparticles and the carbon framework are generated after carbonization at 800 °C and magnesiothermic reduction at 650 °C. The resultant Si@C microspheres show regular spherical shapes with a mean diameter of about 500 nm, a mesopore size of 3.2 nm and specific surface areas of 401-424 m(2) g(-1). Mesoporosity of Si@C microspheres effectively buffers the volume expansion/shrinkage of Si nanoparticles during Li ion insertion/extraction, which endows mesoporous Si@C microspheres with excellent electrochemical performance and cycle stability when they are used as lithium-ion battery anode materials. A typical sample of mesoporous Si@C microspheres presents a specific capacity of 1637 and 1375 mA h g(-1) at first discharge and charge under a current density of 50 mA g(-1). After 100 cycles, the charge capacity remains 1053 mA h g(-1) with a coulombic efficiency of 99%, showing good cycle stability of the anode. This finding highlights the potential application of mesoporous Si@C microspheres in lithium-ion battery anode materials.

A seeded synthetic strategy for uniform polymer and carbon nanospheres with tunable sizes for high performance electrochemical energy storage

We established a novel and facile strategy to synthesize uniform polymer and carbon nanospheres, the diameters of which can be precisely programmed between 35-105 and 30-90 nm, respectively, via time-controlled formation of colloidal seeds. The carbon nanospheres show promising prospects in high rate performance electrochemical energy storage.

Tuned surface area and mesopore diameter of ordered mesoporous carbon: ultrahigh decontamination of di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate

Synthesis of carbon materials with enhanced surface areas, and regular and tuned pore diameters is always a great challenge. In this report, ordered mesoporous carbons (OMCs) were synthesized by the one-step assembly of tri-constituents, and the OMCs were applied as an adsorbent for the removal of the highly hazardous water pollutant di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (DEHP). Phloroglucinol–formaldehyde based carbon precursor was in situ prepared during the assembly of the tri-constituents, and the surface area and mesopore diameter of the OMCs were tuned by variation of the molar ratio of formaldehyde to phloroglucinol. Small angle X-ray diffraction patterns revealed that the obtained carbons are highly ordered, which is in agreement with the measuring results of transmission electron microscopy at low and high resolution. Scanning electron microscopy images demonstrate that OMC-F2.0 has a hierarchical morphology. Nitrogen adsorption–desorption measurements revealed that the surface area of the OMCs (956–1801 m2 g−1) was dependent on the molar ratio of the carbon precursor constituents (formaldehyde to phloroglucinol). By varying the molar ratio of formaldehyde to phloroglucinol from 1.0 to 4.0, the mesopore diameter of the OMCs was shifted to the higher side, from 2.1 to 3.1 nm. DEHP was efficiently removed from a model water pollutant by the OMCs. OMC-F2.0 achieved the highest adsorption capacity of 364 mg g−1 for the removal of DEHP. The adsorption equilibrium data were treated with the two mathematical models of Langmuir and Freundlich, and the results revealed that decontamination was more favorable with the Langmuir model. This concludes that the removal of DEHP by OMCs depends on the surface area, and the DEHP molecules occupied the porous space of the OMCs in a monolayer manner.

Treatment of refractory nano-filtration reject from a tannery using Pd-catalyzed wet air oxidation

We attempted catalytic wet air oxidation (CWAO) of nanofiltration (NF)-reject using Pd based catalyst viz., Pd/activated charcoal (AC) and PdCl2 with the objective of degradation of refractory organic pollutants. Refractory organic pollutants in NF-reject before and after WAO and CWAO were confirmed by GC-MS analysis. Experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of temperature, catalyst dosage and air partial pressure on the rate of removal of total organic carbon (TOC). The reaction kinetics can be conveniently described by considering two-stage first order kinetics. The use of Pd/AC afforded 85% TOC removal, the corresponding rate constant (k) was 2.90 ± 0.075 × 10(-3)min(-1) (Pd/AC, 100mg/L; T, 473.15K; Pair, 0.69 MPa). On the other hand, 75% TOC was removed with k=2.31 ± 0.075 × 10(-3)min(-1) using Pd(2+) catalyst (Pd(2+), 16.66 mg/L; T, 473.15K; Pair, 0.69 MPa). The observed rate of mineralization under Pd-catalyzed conditions was significantly higher than that of the uncatalyzed oxidation (41%) under the similar experimental conditions. Catalyst stability experiments were performed and TEM, SEM, XRD, Raman and XPS characterization data collected. Despite some morphological transformation of support, Pd catalyst was stable under CWAO conditions.