Xiao-lei Huang

Nitrogen‐Doped Porous Carbon Nanosheets as Low‐Cost, High‐Performance Anode Material for Sodium‐Ion Batteries

Between the sheets: Sodium-ion batteries are an attractive, low-cost alternative to lithium-ion batteries. Nitrogen-doped porous carbon sheets are prepared by chemical activation of polypyrrole-functionalized graphene sheets. When using the sheets as anode material in sodium-ion batteries, their unique compositional and structural features result in high reversible capacity, good cycling stability, and high rate capability.

Engraving Copper Foil to Give Large‐Scale Binder‐Free Porous CuO Arrays for a High‐Performance Sodium‐Ion Battery Anode

S. Yuan, Dr. X.-L. Huang, D.-L. Ma, Dr. H.-G. Wang, Dr. F.-Z. Meng, Prof. X.-B. Zhang State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry Chinese Academy of Sciences Changchun, 130022 , P. R. China E-mail: xbzhang@ciac.ac.cn S. Yuan, D.-L. Ma Key Laboratory of Automobile Materials Ministry of Education, and College of Materials Science and Engineering, Jilin University Changchun, 130012 , P. R. China

Self-assembly of ultrathin porous NiO nanosheets/graphene hierarchical structure for high-capacity and high-rate lithium storage

A unique ultrathin porous NiO nanosheets/graphene hierarchical structure is successfully fabricated via a facile, effective, and general strategy. The advantageous combination of conducting and flexible graphene and porous and ultrathin NiO nanosheets endows the obtained hybrid with a remarkable lithium-storage performance, including high reversible capacity, good rate capability and cycle performance.

General and controllable synthesis strategy of metal oxide/TiO2 hierarchical heterostructures with improved lithium-ion battery performance.

We demonstrate a simple, efficient, yet versatile strategy for the synthesis of novel hierarchical heterostructures composed of TiO2 nanofiber stem and various metal oxides (MOs) secondary nanostructures, including Co3O4, Fe2O3, Fe3O4, and CuO, by advantageously combining the versatility of the electrospinning technique and hydrothermal growth method, for which the controllable formation process and possible formation mechanism are also investigated. Moreover, as a proof-of-concept demonstration of the functional properties of these hierarchical heterostructures, the Co3O4/TiO2 hierarchical heterostructures are investigated as the lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) anode materials for the first time, which not only delivers a high reversible capacity of 632.5 mAh g-1 and 95.3% capacity retention over 480 cycles, but also shows excellent rate capability with respect to the pristine TiO2 nanofibers. The synergetic effect between Co3O4 and TiO2 as well as the unique feature of hierarchical heterostructures are probably responsible for the enhanced electrochemical performance.

Three-dimensionally ordered macroporous FeF3 and its in situ homogenous polymerization coating for high energy and power density lithium ion batteries

A new hybrid nanostructure composed of three-dimensionally ordered macroporous (3DOM) FeF3 and an homogenous coating of poly(3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) is successfully synthesized using polystyrene (PS) colloidal crystals as hard template, and the coating of PEDOT is achieved through a novel in situ polymerization method. The special nanostructure provides a three-dimensional, continuous, and fast electronic and ionic path in the electrode. Surprisingly, the advantageous combination of 3DOM structure and homogenous coating of PEDOT endows the as-prepared hybrid nanostructures with a stable and high reversible discharge capacity up to 210 mA h g−1 above 2.0 V at room temperature (RT), and a good rate capability of 120 mA h g−1 at a high current density of 1 A g−1, which opens up new opportunities in the development of high performance next-generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs).

Electrostatic Induced Stretch Growth of Homogeneous β -Ni(OH) 2 on Graphene with Enhanced High-Rate Cycling for Supercapacitors

Supercapacitors, as one of alternative energy devices, have been characterized by the rapid rate of charging and discharging, and high power density. But they are now challenged to achieve their potential energy density that is related to specific capacitance. Thus it is extremely important to make such materials with high specific capacitances. In this report, we have gained homogenous Ni(OH)2 on graphene by efficiently using of a facile and effective electrostatic induced stretch growth method. The electrostatic interaction triggers advantageous change in morphology and the ordered stacking of Ni(OH)2 nanosheets on graphene also enhances the crystallization of Ni(OH)2. When the as-prepared Ni(OH)2/graphene composite is applied to supercapacitors, they show superior electrochemical properties including high specific capacitance (1503 F g−1 at 2 mV s−1) and excellent cycling stability up to 6000 cycles even at a high scan rate of 50 mV s−1.

Dendritic Ni‐P‐Coated Melamine Foam for a Lightweight, Low‐Cost, and Amphipathic Three‐Dimensional Current Collector for Binder‐Free Electrodes

A highly conductive 3D current collector that is dendritic, lightweight, and robust is synthesized for binder-free electrodes in lithium-ion batteries. It has excellent chemical/electrochemical stability in a wide voltage window (0-5 V) and robust mechanical behavior even after 600 cycles of compression. When active materials are grown in situ on the as-obtained current collector, the resulting cycling stability and rate capability far exceed those of conventional electrodes and other 3D current collectors.

Facile and controllable one-pot synthesis of an ordered nanostructure of Co(OH)2 nanosheets and their modification by oxidation for high-performance lithium-ion batteries

Hybrids of Co(OH)2 nanosheets (NSs) and Co3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) are synthesized by a facile hydrothermal strategy, wherein the Co(OH)2 NSs form a flower-like structure and the Co3O4 NPs are embedded on the interlayer surfaces of the Co(OH)2 NSs. The morphology, microstructure and composition of the hybrid can be tuned by the reaction time. When tested as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, these ordered hybrid nanostructures of Co(OH)2 NSs/Co3O4 NPs manifest significantly enhanced Li storage properties, including a high reversible capacity, long cycle life, and superior rate performance. The obtained promising performance could be attributed to the unique microstructure and the synergistic effect of the corresponding chemical composition in the nanocomposite.

Self-assembled large-area Co(OH)(2) nanosheets/ionic liquid modified graphene heterostructures toward enhanced energy storage

Large-area Co(OH)2 nanosheets have been successfully coated with ionic liquid modified graphenevia a general strategy. The advantageous combination of graphene and the 2D structure of the Co(OH)2 nanosheets endows the obtained heterostructures with a remarkable lithium-storage performance, including high reversible capacity and superior cyclic and rate performance.