The quest to improve energy storage and conversion has led to some clever tricks with carbon materials. One standout method involves using a special salt to create carbon nanosheets with plenty of defects and pores. These aren't flaws, but features that make the carbon better at storing energy and catalyzing reactions. The process starts with a mix of leafy zeolitic ...
Silicon and tellurium are teaming up to revolutionize lithium-ion batteries. Researchers have created a new method to produce Si2Te3 and its carbon blend. This isn't just any blend. It's a game-changer for battery performance. The Si2Te3@C composite shows impressive results. It can hold a lot of charge, keep it for a long time, and recharge quickly. This makes it a s...
Imagine tiny, urchin-shaped materials that could vastly improve your phone or laptop's battery life. These 3D structures are made from a special material called Wadsley-Roth phase TiNb2O7. This material has a lot of potential for making better batteries, but it's not perfect. It faces issues like slow lithium-ion movement and poor electrical conductivity. A...
An interesting thing about lithium-ion batteries is how tiny oxygen holes can boost power. Imagine something really small—that's an oxygen vacancy. These vacancies are missing oxygen atoms in a material. When researchers looked closely at a material called Cu2Nb34O87-x/N-doped carbon composite, they realized that these oxygen vacancies might help store more lithium. ...
Did you know that old batteries could have a second life? Scientists have found a cool use for the graphite inside spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). This graphite is special because it has a lot of oxygen-rich groups on its surface. These groups help the graphite absorb microwaves really well. To make it even better, scientists added something called reduced graphe...
Recycling old lithium-ion batteries is a big deal these days. Current methods use a lot of energy and money, and they can be bad for the environment. This study suggests a new, eco-friendly way to separate important battery parts, like lithium iron phosphate (LFP) and graphite. The key is their differing polarizability. A special tool called a microparticle separator...
As electric vehicles (EVs) become more popular, a big problem is what to do with all the old batteries. Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) with LiFePO4 (LFP) cathodes are common, but they wear out and can't be easily reused due to damage. This is because they lose lithium and their structure gets messed up over time. Researchers have come up with a clever way to fix this ...