Effects of water-soluble co-solvents(WSCs)on the properties of water/oil Pickering emulsions were investigated. Pickering emulsions were prepared in the system of 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene(TMB)/ hydrophobic silica/water with varied concentrations of WSCs(ethanol, acetic acid and glycerin). Mean droplet diameter distributions of the obtained emulsions were studied to investigate the effects of WSCs types and concentrations. The results demonstrated that mean droplet diameter distributions decreased at first and then increased with the increase of WSC concentration. Moreover, the effect of WSC concentration on the phase inversion locus was further investigated. At the same time, infrared radiation(IR)spectrometer was used to investigate the mechanism. The results showed that the WSC attaching on hydrophobic silica changed the wettability of the particles, which facilitated the formation and phase inversion of the emulsion. The hydrogen bonds between the co-solvent groups attaching on the solid particles made a great effect on the droplet size of the emulsion and strengthened the interaction among emulsifiers. Overall, proper WSC was in favor of the stability of Pickering emulsion.
In this study, we designed and synthesized a novel battery-type electrode featuring three-dimensional(3D) hierarchical ZnO@Ni_xCo_(1-x)(OH)_y core/shell nanowire/nanosheet arrays arranged on Nifoam substrate via a two-step protocol including a wet chemical process followed by electro-deposition. We then characterized its composition, structure and surface morphology by X-ray diff raction, energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry(EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy(SEM), transmission electron microscopy, EDS elemental mapping. Our electrochemical measurements show that the ZnO@Ni_(0.67)Co_(0.33)(OH)_y electrode material exhibited a noticeably high specific capacity of as much as 255(mA ·h)/g at 1 A/g. Additionally, it demonstrated a superior rate capability, as well as an excellent cycling stability with 81.6% capacity retention over 2000 cycles at 5 A/g. This sample delivered a high energy density of 64 W·h/kg and a power density of 250 W/kg at a current density of 1 A/g. With such remarkable electrochemical properties, we expect the 3D hierarchical hybrid electrode material presented in this work to have promising applications for the next generation of energy storage systems.
Fumin WangMengchao LiuXubin ZhangGuojun LvMingshuai Sun
Lithium-ion capacitors(LICs) were fabricated using mesocarbon microbeads(MCMB) as a negative electrode and a mixture of activated carbon(AC) and LiFePO4 as a positive electrode(abbreviated as LAC).The phase structure and morphology of LAC samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction(XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy(FESEM).The electrochemical performance of the LICs was studied using cyclic voltammetry,charge-discharge rate measurements,and cycle performance testing.A LIC with 30 wt% LiFePO4 was found to have the best electrochemical performance with a specific energy density of 69.02 W h kg-1 remaining at 4 C rate after 100 cycles.Compared with an AC-only positive electrode system,the ratio of practical capacity to theoretical calculated capacity of the LICs was enhanced from 42.22% to 56.59%.It was proved that adding LiFePO4 to AC electrodes not only increased the capacity of the positive electrode,but also improved the electrochemical performances of the whole LICs via Li+ pre-doping.
