New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Science News
from research organizations

Pumping up energy storage with metal oxides

Date:
March 21, 2016
Source:
DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Summary:
Material scientists have found certain metal oxides increase capacity and improve cycling performance in lithium-ion batteries. The team synthesized and compared the electrochemical performance of three graphene metal oxide nanocomposites and found that two of them greatly improved reversible lithium storage capacity.
Share:
FULL STORY

Material scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have found certain metal oxides increase capacity and improve cycling performance in lithium-ion batteries.

The team synthesized and compared the electrochemical performance of three graphene metal oxide nanocomposites and found that two of them greatly improved reversible lithium storage capacity.

The research appears on the cover of the March 21 edition of the Journal of Materials Chemistry A.

Graphene-metal oxide (GMO) nanocomposites have become renowned for their potential in energy storage and conversion, including capacitors, lithium-ion batteries, catalysis (for fuel cells, water splitting and air cleaning) and sensors.

For applications in lithium-ion batteries, nanosized metal oxide (MO) particles and highly conductive graphene are considered beneficial for shortening lithium diffusion pathways and reducing polarization in the electrode, leading to enhanced performance.

In the experiments, the team dipped prefabricated graphene aerogel electrodes in metal ion solutions where all metal oxide nanoparticles appear to be anchored on the surface of graphene and are fully accessible to the electrolyte (i.e., open pore space).

"In essence, our approach helps to optimize the system-level performance by ensuring that most metal oxides are active," said LLNL material scientist Morris Wang and corresponding author of the paper.

The method can deposit most types of MOs onto the same prefabricated 3D graphene structure, allowing for direct comparison of electrochemical performance of a wide range of GMOs.

"We found that the experiments showed large reversible lithium storage capacities of graphene sheets, enabled by the unheralded roles of metal oxides," Wang said. "Surprisingly we saw the magnitude of capacity contributions from graphene is mainly determined by active materials and the type of MO bound onto the graphene surface."

Specifically, the lithium storage mechanisms of MOs and their loading ratio versus graphene play key roles in determining graphene capacity contributions.


Story Source:

Materials provided by DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Jianchao Ye, Yonghao An, Elizabeth Montalvo, Patrick G. Campbell, Marcus A. Worsley, Ich C. Tran, Yuanyue Liu, Brandon C. Wood, Juergen Biener, Hanqing Jiang, Ming Tang, Y. Morris Wang. Solvent-directed sol-gel assembly of 3-dimensional graphene-tented metal oxides and strong synergistic disparities in lithium storage. J. Mater. Chem. A, 2016; 4 (11): 4032 DOI: 10.1039/C5TA10730J

Cite This Page:

DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. "Pumping up energy storage with metal oxides." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 21 March 2016. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160321153930.htm>.
DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. (2016, March 21). Pumping up energy storage with metal oxides. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160321153930.htm
DOE/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. "Pumping up energy storage with metal oxides." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160321153930.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

Explore More

from ScienceDaily

RELATED STORIES