Yanxuan Wen

Enhanced Supercapacitor Performance of Mn3O4 Nanocrystals by Doping Transition-Metal Ions

Pristine and transition-metal-doped Mn3O4 nanocrystals shaped in octahedrons have been synthesized by hydrothermal reduction of potassium permanganate and characterized by SEM/TEM, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and electrochemical experiments. The results reveal that a multistep reduction process is taking place, and the introduction of doping ions causes a direct synthesis of single-phase Mn3O4 nanocrystals. To assess the properties of Mn3O4 nanocrystals for their use in supercapacitors, cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charging-discharging measurements are performed. The phase stability during cycling and charge-transfer behavior are greatly improved by doping with transition metal, and Cr-doped Mn3O4 nanocrystals exhibit a maximum specific capacitance of 272 F g(-1) at a current density of 0.5 A g(-1). These doped Mn3O4 nanocrystals could be a promising candidate material for high-capacity, low-cost, and environmentally friendly electrodes for supercapacitors. In addition, these results have verified the ability of doping to improve capacitive performances of spinel-structured transition-metal oxides.

Response surface optimization of process parameters for reduction roasting of low-grade pyrolusite by bagasse

Abstract The reduction roasting processes for low-grade pyrolusite using bagasse as the reducing agent was statistically analyzed. The central composite rotatable design (CCD) was used to optimize this reduction roasting processes. The three process parameters studied were the mass ratio of bagasse to ore, the roasting temperature and the roasting time. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze the experimental results. The interactions between the process parameters were done by using the linear and quadratic model. The results revealed that the linear and quadratic effects as well as the interaction are statistically significant for the mass ratio and roasting temperature but insignificant for the roasting time. The optimal conditions of 0.9:10 of mass ratio, the roasting temperature of 450 °C, the roasting time of 30 min were obtained. Under these conditions, the predicted leaching recovery rate for manganese was 98.1%. And the satisfied experimental result of 98.2% confirmed the validity of the model.

Deep Eutectic Solvent Synthesis of LiMnPO4/C Nanorods as a Cathode Material for Lithium Ion Batteries

Olivine-type LiMnPO4/C nanorods were successfully synthesized in a chloride/ethylene glycol-based deep eutectic solvent (DES) at 130 °C for 4 h under atmospheric pressure. As-synthesized samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and electrochemical tests. The prepared LiMnPO4/C nanorods were coated with a thin carbon layer (approximately 3 nm thick) on the surface and had a length of 100–150 nm and a diameter of 40–55 nm. The prepared rod-like LiMnPO4/C delivered a discharge capacity of 128 mAh·g−1 with a capacity retention ratio of approximately 93% after 100 cycles at 1 C. Even at 5 C, it still had a discharge capacity of 106 mAh·g−1, thus exhibiting good rate performance and cycle stability. These results demonstrate that the chloride/ethylene glycol-based deep eutectic solvents (DES) can act as a new crystal-face inhibitor to adjust the oriented growth and morphology of LiMnPO4. Furthermore, deep eutectic solvents provide a new approach in which to control the size and morphology of the particles, which has a wide application in the synthesis of electrode materials with special morphology.

Overall Reduction Kinetics of Low-grade Pyrolusite Using a Mixture of Hemicellulose and Lignin as Reductant

Manganese is widely used in many fields. Many efforts have been made to recover manganese from low-grade pyrolusite due to the depletion of high-grade manganese ore. Thus, it is of practical significance to develop a clean, energy-saving and environmentally friendly technical route to reduce the low-grade pyrolusite. The reported results show that biomass wastes from crops, crop waste, wood and wood waste are environmentally friendly, energy-saving, and low-cost reducing agents for roasting reduction of low-grade pyrolusite. Kinetics of the reduction reactions is necessary for an efficient design of biomass reduction of pyrolusite. Therefore, it is important to look for a general kinetics equation to describe the reduction of pyrolusite by different kinds of biomass, because there is a wide variety of biomass wastes, meaning that it is impossible to investigate the kinetics for each biomass waste. In this paper, thermal gravimetric analysis and differential thermal analysis were applied to study the overall reduction kinetics of pyrolusite using a mixture of hemicellulose and lignin, two major components of biomass. Overall reduction process is the overlap of the respective reduction processes. A new empirical equation based on the Johnson–Mehl–Avrami equation can be used to describe the respective reduction kinetics using hemicellulose and lignin as reductants, and the corresponding apparent activation energy is 30.14 kJ mol−1 and 38.91 kJ mol−1, respectively. The overall kinetic model for the reduction of pyrolusite by the mixture of hemicellulose and lignin can be simulated by the summation of the respective kinetics by considering their mass-loss fractions, while a unit step function was used to avoid the invalid conversion data. The obtained results in this work are necessary to understand the biomass reduction of pyrolusite and provide valuable assistance in the development of a general kinetics equation.

Ukupna kinetika redukcije niskokvalitetnog piroluzita smjesom hemiceluloze i lignina kao redukcijskog sredstva

Manganese is widely used in many fields. Many efforts have been made to recover manganese from low-grade pyrolusite due to the depletion of high-grade manganese ore. Thus, it is of practical significance to develop a clean, energy-saving and environmentally friendly technical route to reduce the low-grade pyrolusite. The reported results show that biomass wastes from crops, crop waste, wood and wood waste are environmentally friendly, energy-saving, and low-cost reducing agents for roasting reduction of low-grade pyrolusite. Kinetics of the reduction reactions is necessary for an efficient design of biomass reduction of pyrolusite. Therefore, it is important to look for a general kinetics equation to describe the reduction of pyrolusite by different kinds of biomass, because there is a wide variety of biomass wastes, meaning that it is impossible to investigate the kinetics for each biomass waste. In this paper, thermal gravimetric analysis and differential thermal analysis were applied to study the overall reduction kinetics of pyrolusite using a mixture of hemicellulose and lignin, two major components of biomass. Overall reduction process is the overlap of the respective reduction processes. A new empirical equation based on the Johnson–Mehl–Avrami equation can be used to describe the respective reduction kinetics using hemicellulose and lignin as reductants, and the corresponding apparent activation energy is 30.14 kJ mol−1 and 38.91 kJ mol−1, respectively. The overall kinetic model for the reduction of pyrolusite by the mixture of hemicellulose and lignin can be simulated by the summation of the respective kinetics by considering their mass-loss fractions, while a unit step function was used to avoid the invalid conversion data. The obtained results in this work are necessary to understand the biomass reduction of pyrolusite and provide valuable assistance in the development of a general kinetics equation.

Hydrothermal synthesis and metal ions doping effects of single-crystal Mn{sub 3}O{sub 4}

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • Dopant species and dopant/Mn molar ratio affect the shape of Mn{sub 3}O{sub 4} microcrystal. • For Cu and Ni doped Mn{sub 3}O{sub 4}, the spontaneous valence changes of dopant taken place. • An apparent change in the energy bandgap of Mn{sub 3}O{sub 4} with the metal doping. - Abstract: Synthesis of undoped and transition metal ion doped Mn{sub 3}O{sub 4} microcrystals were achieved through a simple hydrothermal route. The morphologies and structures of the obtained products were characterized using X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoemission spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Results revealed that the low volume percentage of ethanol in the precursor solution limited formation of Mn{sup 2+}, while the introduction of doping ions into the precursor solution caused a direct synthesis of single phase Mn{sub 3}O{sub 4} crystals. For Cu and Ni doping ions, the spontaneous valence changes during the doping process were taken place. The possible doping mechanisms for the formation of single-phase Mn{sub 3}O{sub 4} were discussed briefly. UV–vis spectroscopic studies showed an apparent change in the energy bandgap of Mn{sub 3}O{sub 4} with the metal doping.