Amorphous LiCoO2-based positive electrode materials are synthesized by a mechanical milling technique. As a lithium oxy-acid, Li2SO4, Li3PO4, Li3BO3, Li2CO3, and LiNO3 are selected and milled with LiCoO2. XRD patterns indicate that reaction between LiCoO2 and these lithium oxy-acids proceeds. Amorphization mainly occurs, and several broad peaks attributable to cubic LiCoO2 are observed in all the samples. These amorphous active materials show mixed conductivities of electron and lithium ion. All-solid-state cells using the prepared amorphous active materials and the Li2.9B0.9S0.1O3.1 glass-ceramic electrolyte are fabricated and their charge-discharge properties are examined. The cells with only the 80LiCoO2·20Li2SO4 (mol%) and the 80LiCoO2·20Li3PO4 active materials function as secondary batteries. This is because higher lithium ionic conductivities are obtained in the 80LiCoO2·20Li2SO4 and 80LiCoO2·20Li3PO4 active materials than in the others. The largest capacity is obtained in the cell with the 80LiCoO2·20Li2SO4 active material because of its good formability and high lithium ionic conductivity. In addition, the cell with the 80LiCoO2·20Li2SO4 positive electrode active material shows the better cycle and rate performance than that with the crystalline LiCoO2. It is noted that the amorphization with lithium oxy-acids is a promising technique for achieving a novel active material with better electrochemical performance.

This paper discusses a pulse electroplating method for preparing copper (Cu)-coated gas diffusion electrodes (GDEs) for the electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) to hydrocarbons such as ethylene. Ionomer coating and air-plasma surface pre-treatments were explored as means of hydrophilizing the carbon surface to enable adhesion of electrodeposited material. The pulsed-current electrodeposition method used successfully generated copper and copper oxide micro- and nano-particles on the prepared surfaces. Copper(I) species identified on the ionomer-treated GDEs are presumed to be highly active for the selective generation of ethylene as compared to other gaseous byproducts of CO2 reduction. Conversely, copper catalysts deposited onto plasma-treated GDEs were found to have poor activity for hydrocarbon production, likely due to substantial metallic character. Of note, plasma treatment of an ionomer-treated GDE after copper plating yielded further improvements in catalytic activity and durability towards ethylene production.

Carbon based materials have long been investigated as anodes for lithium ion batteries. Among these materials, porous carbon holds several advantages such as high stability, high specific surface area, and excellent cycling capability. To further enhance the energy storage performance, ceramic nanomaterials have been combined with carbon based materials as hybrid anodes for enhanced specific capacity. The use of metal oxide ceramic nanomaterials could enhance the surface electrochemical reactivity thus leads to the increasing of capacity retention at higher number of cycles. In this research, we synthesized ceria (CeO2) nano-particles on porous carbon to form inorganic-organic hybrid composites as an anode material for Li-ion battery. The high redox potential of ceria is expected to increase the specific capacity and energy density of the system. The electrochemical performance was determined by a battery analyzer. It is observed that the specific capacity could be improved by 77% using hybrid composites anode. The material morphology, crystal structure, and thermal stability were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA).

Thermal batteries based on a reversible adsorption/desorption of a working fluid (water, methanol, ammonia) rather than the conventional vapor compression is a promising alternative to exploit waste thermal energy for heat reallocation. In this context, there is an increasing interest to find novel porous solids able to adsorb a high energy density of working fluid under low relative vapor pressure condition combined with an easy ability of regeneration (desorption) at low temperature, which are the major requirements for adsorption driven heat pumps and chillers. The porous crystalline hybrid materials named Metal–Organic Frameworks (MOF) represent a great source of inspiration for sorption based-applications owing to their tunable chemical and topological features associated with a large variability of pore sizes. Recently, we have designed a new MOF named MIL-160 (MIL stands for Materials of Institut Lavoisier), isostructural to CAU-10, built from the assembly of corner sharing aluminum chains octahedra AlO4(OH)2 with the 2,5-furandicarboxylic linker substituting the pristine organic linker, 1,4-benzenedicarboxylate. This ligand replacement strategy proved to enhance both the hydrophilicity of the MOF and its amount of water adsorbed at low p/p0. This designed solid was synthesized and its chemical stability/adsorption performances verified. Here, we have extended this study by incorporating other polar heterocyclic linkers and a comparative computational study of the water adsorption performances of these novel structures has been performed. To that purpose, the cell and geometry optimizations of all hypothetical frameworks were first performed at the density functional theory level and their water adsorption isotherms were further predicted by using force-field based Grand-Canonical Monte Carlo simulations. This study reveals the ease tunable water affinity of MOF for the desired application.

In this study, we conducted the first energy dispersive x-ray diffraction (EDXRD) experiments on Li/Li1.1V3O8 coin cells discharged to different lithiation levels in order to investigate the phase transitions upon electrochemical reduction. The phase transformation from layered Li-poor α to Li-rich α to defect rock-salt β phase was confirmed with cells of different lithiation stages. No spatial localization of phase formation was observed throughout the cathodes under the conditions of this measurement.