New paper published in Advanced Sustainable Systems on the use of ordered mesoporous carbon with a high volume of micropores for electric double-layer capacitors. This work was in collaboration with Martin Oschatz & Markus Antonietti (Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces,).
New paper published in ChemSusChem. Our joint work with the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (INP Greifswald) demonstrates mixed Ti-Nb metal oxide electrodes for lithium ion application. Using electrospinning, the fiber mats are free of binder, free-standing, and can be directly used as electrodes. Per nanoscale engineering, the fibers also already contained sufficient amounts of conductive carbon within each fiber, so that no additional conductive phase needed to be added.
New paper published in ChemSusChem on a new multi-channel system to significantly boost the desalination capacity for capacitive deionization.
New paper published on the use of electrospun SiOC with tin nanoparticles as lithium ion battery electrodes in Sustainable Energy & Fuels. Also, new paper published on inverse vulcanization with carbon onions for lithium sulfur batteries in Sustainable Energy & Fuels.
New paper published in Chemistry of Materials on the use of titanium disulfide as sodium intercalation material in aqueous media. In our quest to establish ion intercalation materials for water desalination, we demonstrate titanium disulfide as a battery-like electrode material highly suited to remove sodium ions from saline solutions. Pairing with nanoporous carbon to accomplish chlorine removal, no ion exchange membrane is needed in this hybrid Faradaic desalination concept.
New paper published in Journal of Power Sources on the use of in situ electrochemical methods to characterize the mechanical response of lithium ion battery binders . This work was conducted in collaboration with the Aurbach Group at Bar Ilan University, Israel.
New paper published in Chemistry of Materials on the use of atomic layer deposition (ALD) to synthesize hybrid electrode materials of tailored mesoporous carbon and vanadium oxide. Using optimized carbon pore structures, pore blocking can be avoided and promising energy storage capacities are enabled for lithium and sodium ion electrolytes.
New paper published in Desalination on the use of a novel multi-channel membrane capacitive deionization unit (using carbon cloth electrodes) for semi-continuous desalination.
New paper published in ChemSusChem on the use of vanadium pentoxide decorated multiwall carbon nanotubes for energy efficient desalination of brackish water and sea water. This work was in collaboration with the Chair of Functional Materials of Saarland University.
New paper published in Journal of Physical Chemistry C on ion electrosorption of ionic liquids. Using the synergy of electrochemical dilatometry and electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance methodology, important information can be derived. We found that the charging mechanism at low charge is characterized by the exchange of more smaller ions by fewer larger ions. At higher charges, the system is changing to preferred counterion adsorption, which is resulting in a strong increase in the electrode volume. This work was in collaboration with Bernhard Roling from Philipps-Universität Marburg.
Collaborator Christian Kozwara presents joint work at the Joint Annual Meeting of Swiss and Austrian Physical Society (SPS/ÖPG) meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. His presentation is entitled “Electrode swelling during ion electrosorption in carbon based supercapacitors”.
New paper published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces on in situ electrochemistry. Using electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance methodology, we can discern different mechanical responses of binder materials, such as polyvinyldifluoride or sodium carboxymethyl cellulose. This work was in collaboration with the Aurbach Group at Bar Ilan University, Israel.
New paper published in Sustainable Energy & Fuels on the use of the microjet reactor for the synthesis of CDC beads. CDC (carbide derived carbon) was obtained from polymer derived ceramic beads. By adjusting the vinyl / phenyl ratio, the pore size structure was modified. Nanoporous CDC beads showed a high suitability for use as supercapacitor electrodes. This work was in collaboration with Guido Kickelbick (inorganic solid-state chemistry, Saarland University).
New paper published in Journal of Materials Chemistry A on the use of molbdenum disulfide / carbon nanotube electrodes for Faradaic deionization. Our work establishes membrane-free electrochemical desalination with a symmetric cell design that allows energy efficient deionization of saline media of low (5 mM) or high (500 mM) NaCl concentration.
New paper published in Electrochimica Acta on the influence of carbon distribution on the electrochemical performance and stability of lithium titanate / carbon electrodes. The carbon distribution is essential to ensure electric conduits throughout the electrode and lack thereof may severely degrade the electrochemical performance stability (not just energy density and power handling).
New paper published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces on the complementary use of in situ small angle X-ray scattering and electrochemical dilatometry to track the expansion of nanoporous carbon based on hierarchic pore architectures. Our data underline the importance of micropores for the volume changes occuring during electrochemical cycling. This work was in collaboration with Montanuniversität Leoben (Oskar Paris) and Universität Salzburg (Nicola Hüsing).
New paper published in Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry on the mechanochemistry-assisted synthesis of nanoporous carbons for use in carbon supercapacitors. The paper is the latest outcome of our collaboration with the junior investigator team of Lars Borchardt at TU Dresden.
New paper published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry A on the promising features of the ZnI2 redox energy storage system. Using activated carbon cloth electrode and a Zn electrode, we achieve a high energy storage performance of 226 Wh/kg and a higher power of 20 kW/kg. The unique strength of iodide adsorption allows stable and efficient operation even without ion exchange membranes.
New paper published in Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (PCCP) on extracting a 3D pore model of nanoporous carbons used for double-layer applications (esp. supercapacitors). This work was the latest outcome from our collaboration with Oskar Paris at Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria.