Ziqi Tan

A Hierarchical Carbon Derived from Sponge-Templated Activation of Graphene Oxide for High-Performance Supercapacitor Electrodes.

A hierarchical porous carbon is fabricated by introducing a polyurethane sponge to a template graphene oxide into a 3D interconnected structure, while KOH activation generates abundant micropores in its backbone. Supercapacitors assembled with this carbon achieve a high energy density of 89 W h kg(-1) (64 W h L(-1) ) and outstanding power density due to the shortened ion-transport distance in 3D.

Incorporating Pyrrolic and Pyridinic Nitrogen into a Porous Carbon made from C60 Molecules to Obtain Superior Energy Storage

Nitrogen-doped porous carbon is obtained by KOH activation of C60 in an ammonia atmosphere. As an anode for Li-ion batteries, it shows a reversible capacity of up to ≈1900 mA h g-1 at 100 mA g-1 . Simulations suggest that the superior Li-ion storage may be related to the curvature of the graphenes and the presence of pyrrolic/pyridinic group dopants.

Assembling carbon quantum dots to a layered carbon for high-density supercapacitor electrodes

It is found that carbon quantum dots (CQDs) self-assemble to a layer structure at ice crystals-water interface with freeze- drying. Such layers interconnect with each other, forming a free-standing CQD assembly, which has an interlayer distance of about 0.366 nm, due to the existence of curved carbon rings other than hexagons in the assembly. CQDs are fabricated by rupturing C60 by KOH activation with a production yield of ~15 wt.%. The CQDs obtained have an average height of 1.14 nm and an average lateral size of 7.48 nm, and are highly soluble in water. By packaging annealed CQD assembly to high density (1.23 g cm−3) electrodes in supercapacitors, a high volumetric capacitance of 157.4 F cm−3 and a high areal capacitance of 0.66 F cm−2 (normalized to the loading area of electrodes) are demonstrated in 6 M KOH aqueous electrolyte with a good rate capability.

Infrared biosensors based on graphene plasmonics: modeling

We propose a biosensor by exploiting localized plasmons in graphene and biomolecule adsorption on it. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the sensitivity of such a device can achieve a high value of up to 1697 nm/RIU (refractive index unit) when the wavelength shift at the plasmon resonance is detected. The transparent substrate supporting graphene can be chosen potentially from a wide range of materials including insulators, semiconductors, polymers, and gels. The plasmon resonance wavelength can be tuned with electrostatic doping and/or structure modulation of graphene. Furthermore, the device works in a wide angle range of incident light since the transverse magnetic (TM) polarization is independent of incident angles.

Supercapacitors: A Hierarchical Carbon Derived from Sponge‐Templated Activation of Graphene Oxide for High‐Performance Supercapacitor Electrodes (Adv. Mater. 26/2016)

H. Ji, Y. Zhu, and co-workers demonstrate a 3D hierarchically porous carbon by introducing a polyurethane sponge to template graphene oxide into a 3D interconnected structure while KOH activation generates abundant micropores in its backbone. As described on page 5222, a supercapacitor assembled with this carbon material achieves a high energy density of 89 W h kg(-1) (64 W h L(-1) ) and outstanding power density due to its shortened ion transport distance in three dimensions.

Diameter-Sensitive Breakdown of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes upon KOH Activation

While potassium hydroxide (KOH) activation has been used to create pores in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for improved energy-storage performance, the KOH activation mechanism of CNTs has been rarely investigated. In this work, the reaction between single-walled CNTs (SWCNTs) and KOH is studied in situ by thermogravimetric analysis coupled to infrared (IR) spectroscopy and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (MS). The IR and MS results clearly demonstrate the sequential evolution of CO, hydrocarbons, CO2 , and H2 O in the activation process. By using the radial breathing mode of Raman spectroscopy, a diameter-sensitive selectivity is observed in the reaction between SWCNTs and KOH, leading to a preferential distribution of SWCNTs with diameters larger than 1 nm after activation at 900 °C and a preferential removal of SWCNTs with diameters below 1 nm upon activation.

Applications of graphene for energy storage and conversion

Nowadays the increasing consumption of fossil fuel and the increasing pollution drive people to look for clean alternative energy resources, energy storage methods and efficient energy consumption ways. Since high-quality graphene was obtained in 2004, it has attracted much interest. Due to its extraordinary properties, graphene has many potential applications in energy storage and conversion. Herein, we review recent progress of these fields, including applications in energy storage such as supercapacitors and Li-ion batteries, and energy conversion apparatus like fuel cells and solar cells.