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Open Access Research Article Just accepted
Study on the electrochemical reaction mechanism of non-corrosive and long-life rechargeable aluminum battery
Energy Materials and Devices
Available online: 20 March 2024
Downloads:7

Due to the high volumetric capacity, low cost and high security, rechargeable aluminum batteries (RABs) become potential candidates for energy applications. However, the high charge density of Al3+ leads to strong coulombic interactions with anions and cathodes, resulting in slow kinetics diffusion and irreversible collapse of the cathode structure. Meanwhile, the commonly used electrolyte AlCl3-based ionic liquids have serious corrosion on the battery components and are prone to side reactions. The above problems lead to low capacity and poor cycling stability. Here, the reduced graphene oxide (rGO) cathode with three-dimensional porous network was prepared by a simple and scalable method. The lamellar edges and oxygen-containing group defects of rGO synergistically provide abundant ion storage sites and enhance the kinetic. Matching with non-corrosive electrolyte 0.5 M Al(OTF)3/[BMIM]OTF and Al metal, we constructed a high-performance battery, Al||rGO-150, with good cycling stability and discharge capacity of 80 mAh g−1 after 3200 cycles. Quasi-in situ physicochemical characterization indicate that the ion storage mechanism is co-dominated by diffusion and capacitance. The capacity consists of the insertion of Al-based species cations as well as adsorption and insertion of OTF- and [BMIM]+ synergistically. This work promotes the fundamental and applied research on RABs.

Research Article Issue
Nanowires mediated growth of β-Ga2O3 nanobelts for high-temperature (> 573 K) solar-blind photodetectors
Nano Research 2023, 16 (4): 5548-5554
Published: 05 December 2022
Downloads:62

β-Ga2O3, with ultra-wide bandgap, high absorption coefficient for high-energy ultraviolet (UV) photons, and high structural stability toward harsh-environment, has been receiving persistent attention for deep ultraviolet photodetectors applications. However, realization of devices with high tolerance toward high temperature faces great challenges due to considerable background signals mainly arising from abundant thermal excited carrier. Herein, nanowire-mediated high-quality β-Ga2O3 nanobelts with ultra-thin thickness and length up to several hundred micrometers were achieved via a simple catalyst-free chemical vapor deposition route. The resulted microdevice output superior optoelectric figure of merits among numerous reports about β-Ga2O3, i.e., ultra-low dark current (below the detection limit of 10−12 A), high responsivity (1,320 A/W), and high spectral selectivity working under low voltage (~ 2 V). More importantly, the performance remains robust at elevated temperature higher than 573 K. These results indicate a large prospect for low-voltage driven deep ultraviolet photodetectors with good sensitivity and stability at harsh environments.

Research Article Issue
Self-standing hollow porous Co/a-WOx nanowire with maximum Mott–Schottky effect for boosting alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction
Nano Research 2023, 16 (4): 4603-4611
Published: 09 November 2022
Downloads:43

The sufficient utilization of Mott–Schottky effect for boosting alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) depends upon scale minimizing of interface components and exposure maximizing of Mott–Schottky interface. Here, a self-standing porous tubular Mott–Schottky electrocatalyst is constructed by a self-template etching strategy, where amorphous WOx (a-WOx) nano-matrix connects Co nanoparticles. This novel “Janus” electrocatalyst maximizes the Mott–Schottky effect by not only providing a highly exposed micro interface, but also simultaneously accelerating the water dissociation and optimizing the hydrogen desorption process. Experimental findings and theoretical calculations reveal that Co/a-WOx Mott–Schottky heterointerface triggers the electron redistribution and a build-in electric field, which can not only optimize the adsorption energy of the reaction intermediates, but also facilitate the charge transfer. Thus, Co/a-WOx requires an overpotential of only 36.3 mV at 10 mA·cm−2 and shows a small Tafel slope of 53.9 mV·dec−1 as well as an excellent 200-h long-term stability. This work provides a novel design strategy for maximizing the Mott–Schottky effect on promoting alkaline HER.

Research Article Issue
Compact Sn/C composite realizes long-life sodium-ion batteries
Nano Research 2023, 16 (3): 3804-3813
Published: 19 March 2022
Downloads:77

Sodium-ion batteries are considered as a promising low-cost alternative to commercial lithium-ion batteries. However, the harsh preparation conditions and unsatisfactory electrochemical performance of most sodium-ion batteries anode materials limit their commercial applications. Herein, we develop a new alloying/dealloying method for producing nano-scale tin from freezing point to room temperature. Due to the unique surface properties of tin particles, a tin/carbon composite with a compact structure is obtained. When coupled with a diglyme-based electrolyte, tin/carbon composite (contains 60 wt.% tin) exhibits a reversible capacity of 334.8 mAh·g−1 after 1,000 cycles at 500 mA·g−1. An as-prepared tin/carbon anode||high-load vanadium phosphate sodium full cell (N/P ratio: 1.07) shows a stable cycle life of 300 cycles at 1 A·g−1. The achievement of such an excellent performance can be ascribed to the carbon conductive network and robust solid electrolyte interphase film, which facilitates the fast transportation of electrons and Na ions. This work provides a new idea to prepare other alloyed anode materials for high-performance sodium-ion batteries.

Research Article Issue
Multi-time scale photoelectric behavior in facile fabricated transparent and flexible silicon nanowires aerogel membrane
Nano Research 2022, 15 (2): 1609-1615
Published: 11 August 2021
Downloads:35

In recent years, transparent and flexible materials have been widely pursued in electronics and optoelectronics fields for usage as planar electrodes, energy conversion components and sensing units. As the most widely applied semiconductor material, the related progress in silicon is of great significance although with large difficulty. Herein, we report a one-step method to achieve flexible and transparent silicon nanowires aerogel membrane. A competitive carrier kinetics involving interfacial trapped carriers and the valence electrons transition is demonstrated, according to the photoelectric performance of a sandwiched graphene/silicon nanowires membrane/Al device, i.e., rapidly positive photoresponse dominated by laser excited free-carriers generation (~ 500 ms) and subsequent slow negative photocurrent evolution due to laser heating involved multi-levels process (> 10 s). These results contribute to fabrication of silicon nanowire self-assembly structures and also the exploration of their optoelectrical properties in flexible and transparent devices.

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