Nano-crystalline FeOOH particles(5～10 nm) have been uniformly mixed with electric matrix of single-walled carbon nanotubes(SWNTs)for forming FeOOH/SWNT composite via a facile ultrasonication method. Directly using the FeOOH/SWNT composite(containing 15 wt%SWNTs) as anode material for lithium battery enhances kinetics of the Li+insertion/extraction processes, thereby effectively improving reversible capacity and cycle performance, which delivers a high reversible capacity of 758 mAh g-1under a current density of 400 mA g-1even after 180 cycles, being comparable with previous reports in terms of electrochemical performance for FeOOH anode. The good electrochemical performance should be ascribed to the small particle size and nano-crystalline of FeOOH, as well as the good electronic conductivity of SWNT matrix.
Conducting supporters of purified single-walled carbon nanotubes(SWNTs) and graphene oxide(GO)were used to confine pomegranate-structured Sn O2 nanospheres for forming SnO_2-GO-SWNT composites.As anode material for lithium ion batteries(LIBs), this composite exhibits a stable and large reversible capacity together with an excellent rate capability. In addition, an analysis of the AC impedance spectroscopy has been used to confirm the enhanced mechanism for LIB performance. The improved electrochemical performance should be ascribed greatly to the reinforced synergistic effects between GO and SWNT networks, and their enhanced contribution of the conductivity. These results indicate that this composite has potential for utilization in high-rate and durable LIBs.
The magnetism and work function of pure Ni(001) and Ni-Cu slab alloys were investigated using first-principles methods based on density functional theory. The calculated results reveal that both magnetic moments and work functions of the alloys depend strongly on the surface orientation, but hardly on the distribution of doped Cu atoms for a given surface orientation. It is found that the doped Cu atoms have evident influence on the magnetic moment of Ni-Cu slabs, and the average magnetic moment of Ni atoms for Ni-Cu alloys decreases with increasing concentration of Cu atoms. Moreover, it is observed that the work function of Ni(001) is insensitive to the supercell thickness and the inner concentration of Cu atoms. In the meantime, the spin polarization is found to have an obvious role on the work function of the Ni-Cu alloys, which may give a new way to modulate the work function of the metal gate.
Cr 2 O 3-coated LiNi 1/3 Co 1/3 Mn 1/3 O 2 cathode materials were synthesized by a novel method. The structure and electrochemical properties of prepared cathode materials were measured using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), charge-discharge tests, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The measured results indicate that surface coating with 1.0 wt% Cr 2 O 3 does not affect the LiNi 1/3 Co 1/3 Mn 1/3 O 2 crystal structure (α-NaFeO 2 ) of the cathode material compared to the pristine material, the surfaces of LiNi 1/3 Co 1/3 Mn 1/3 O 2 samples are covered with Cr 2 O 3 well, and the LiNi 1/3 Co 1/3 Mn 1/3 O 2 material coated with Cr 2 O 3 has better electrochemical performance under a high cutoff voltage of 4.5 V. Moreover, at room temperature, the initial discharging capacity of LiNi 1/3 Co 1/3 Mn 1/3 O 2 material coated with 1.0 wt.% Cr 2 O 3 at 0.5C reaches 169 mAh·g 1 and the capacity retention is 83.1% after 30 cycles, while that of the bare LiNi 1/3 Co 1/3 Mn 1/3 O 2 is only 160.8 mAh·g 1 and 72.5%. Finally, the coated samples are found to display the improved electrochemical performance, which is mainly attributed to the suppression of the charge-transfer resistance at the interface between the cathode and the electrolyte.
Olivine structured LiFePO 4 /C (lithium iron phosphate) and Mn 2+ -doped LiFe 0.98 Mn 0.02 PO 4 /C powders were synthesized by the solid-state reaction. The effects of manganese partial substitution and different carbon content coating on the surface of LiFePO 4 were considered. The structures and electrochemical properties of the samples were measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD), cyclic voltammetry (CV), charge/discharge tests at different current densities, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The electrochemical properties of LiFePO 4 cathodes with x wt.% carbon coating (x= 3, 7, 11, 15) at =0.2C, 2C (1C= 170 mAh·g 1 ) between 2.5 and 4.3 V were investigated. The measured results mean that the LiFePO 4 with 7 wt.% carbon coating shows the best rate performance. The discharge capacity of LiFe 0.98 Mn 0.02 PO 4 /C composite is found to be 165 mAh·g 1 at a discharge rate, = 0.2C, and 105 mAh·g 1 at =2C, respectively. After 10 cycles, the discharge capacity has rarely fallen, while that of the pristine LiFePO 4 /C cathode is 150 mAh·g 1 and 98 mAh·g 1 at =0.2 and 2C, respectively. Compared to the discharge capacities of both electrodes above, the evident improvement of the electrochemical performance is observed, which is ascribed to the enhancement of the electronic conductivity and diffusion kinetics by carbon coating and Mn 2+-substitution.
Based on Monte Carlo simulations,the effect of structural configuration on the hysteresis behavior and tunneling magnetoresistance(TMR) of composite nanoparticles with ferromagnetic(FM) core/anti-ferromagnetic(AFM) shell is investigated.The simulated results indicate that the coercive field(H c) of composites increases with the decreasing ratio of core-radius(r core) to shell-radius(r shell).When the ratio of r shell to r core is approaching 4:3,H c decreases with increasing AFM thickness.In addition,TMR is found to increase with the decreasing ratio of r core to r shell,resulting from the enhancement of resistance changes in disordered AFM shell.
The structural stability, vibrational and magnetic properties of hydrogen doped ZnO:Co have been studied by first-principles calculations based on density functional theory. Bond-center(BC) sites were identified to be most stable sites for hydrogen, the corresponding vibrational frequencies including anharmonic contributions were calculated. Its magnetic properties were investigated as well. The calculated results reveal that hydrogen could induce the change of electronic transfer, leading to a decrease of magnetic moment. However, the magnetic coupling between Co atoms is greatly strengthen. The results simulated by Monte Carlo method indicate that hydrogen can induce the Curie temperature to increase from 200 to 300 K.
