3/21/2014Using peat moss to fabricate high-performance battery anodes

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+sing peat moss to $abricate high!per$ormance battery anodes

,Nanowerk Spotlight- .d#anced electrical energy storage systems are primarily based on lithium!ion battery ,/IB- technologies0 1raphite is the standard anode material that is success$ully and cheaply employed in commercial /IBs( demonstrating the highly desirable $lat #oltage2current response e"pected $or powering modern de#ices0 3here is increasing concern about the use o$ /IBs $or large!scale applications li e electric #ehicles due to the cost disad#antage and the o#erall global scarcity o$ lithium0 Sodium is an attracti#e alternati#e to lithium because o$ its mar edly lower price and its much wider global abundance0 +n$ortunately graphite is not suitable $or sodium ion battery ,SIB or NIBanodes(
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3/21/2014Using peat moss to fabricate high-performance battery anodes

since the 4'5 larger sodium ions will simply not $it within the lattice structure0 3here are also currently no other NIB anode candidate materials that o$$er the needed #oltage2current characteristics0 Researchers in 6anada ha#e now demonstrated that it is possible to achie#e graphite!li e charge2discharge beha#ior in a NIB anode through a controlled dilation o$ the intergraphene spacing in a tailored carbon0 78e utilized common peat moss as the carbon precursor( tuning the synthesis process to create macroscopically open nanoscale pseudographitic structures that also o$$ers a uni9ue high rate capability and superb charge ! discharge cycling stability(7 :hi /i( a post doc researcher in Da#id ;itlin<s group at the +ni#ersity o$ .lberta( tells Nanower 0 3he team has published their results in a recent online edition o$ ACS Nano ,76arbon Nanosheet =ramewor s Deri#ed $rom %eat ;oss as High %er$ormance Sodium Ion Battery .nodes7In pre#ious Nanowerk Spotlights we reported on the group<s inno#ati#e use o$ biomaterials to $abricate supercapacitor electrode materials $rom eggshells ,76on#erting eggshell membranes into a high!per$ormance electrode material $or supercapacitors7- or hemp ,7. nanotechnology use $or hemp7-0

The structure changes of peat moss cell walls during carbonization and activation. The zoomed-in areas from top to bottom highlight the highly cross-linked polymer tissue in hyaline cell walls sodium insertion in the graphitic carbon layers with e!panded d-spacing and the facilitated sodium ion diffusion through the micro"mesopores generated during activation. #$eprinted with permission from American Chemical Society% In their new wor ( the scientists demonstrate that peat moss ser#es as an ideal en#ironmentally benign and ine"pensi#e carbon source( being one o$ the most abundant wild growing plants on the planet( with peat land > land with a naturally accumulated layer o$ peat moss > co#ering around *5 o$ the earth0 ?lectrode material $abrication in#ol#es pyrolysis and acti#ation( the
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3/21/2014Using peat moss to fabricate high-performance battery anodes

$ormer process loc ing in the 6O) present in the plant and gi#ing the synthesis process a negati#e 6O) $ootprint0 73a ing ad#antage o$ the cross!lin ed organization o$ the polymers in the peat moss cell wall( we achie#ed highly ordered pseudo graphitic structures with a highly dilated graphene interlayer spacing(7 e"plains /i0 73his allowed $or $acile sodium ,Na- intercalation into the carbons< bul ( while the high le#el o$ order created a chemically homogeneous en#ironment $or the inserted ions and hence relati#ely $lat #oltage pro$iles07 %ro$0 Da#id ;itlin emphasizes that( until their publication( it was ta en $or granted that Na intercalation > storage o$ ions in bul rather than on sur$aces > into a carbon is impossible at the low #oltages needed $or a use$ul anode in a commercial battery0 7%eople basically assumed that the sodium simply plated out as a metal onto the sur$ace o$ the pores in the carbon(7 says ;itlin0 73his created a percei#ed $undamental limit to what could be achie#ed( since plating e#en at the nanoscale is not desirable ,sa$ety concernsand porosity was limited07 3his scienti$ic misunderstanding was understandable in light o$ the $act that researchers ha#e been unable to create highly ordered carbons but with a su$$iciently dilated intergraphene spacing ,basically a swollen graphite- to insert the Na ions into the bul structure0 3he +ni#ersity o$ .lberta team were able to achie#e this by marrying the chemical attributes and the physical structure o$ the precursor plant to a customized heat treatment0 In addition to achie#ing great electrochemical results( they were able to conclusi#ely demonstrate( using @!ray di$$raction( that intercalation is indeed possible in biomaterials li e the peat moss used here0 7Since the carbons we achie#ed with our method display superb ,some o$ the best reported in literature- electrochemical per$ormance in numerous respects > including total re#ersible capacity( cycling stability( rate capability( charge2discharge #oltage hysteresis > this should( combined with the green and economical method $or synthesis( ma e carbonized peat moss a highly attracti#e practical NIB anode material(7 concludes ;itlin0 &y 'ichael &erger. Copyright ( Nanowerk

SubscribeA Recei#e a con#enient email noti$ication whene#er a new Nanower Nanotechnology Spotlight posts0 Become a Spotlight guest authorA Ha#e you Bust published a scienti$ic paper or ha#e other e"citing de#elopments to share with the nanotechnology communityC /et us now0

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3/21/2014 Using peat moss to fabricate high-performance battery anodes

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3/21/2014 Using peat moss to fabricate high-performance battery anodes

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