Carbon Nanotubes Derived from Yeast-Fermented Wheat Flour and Their Energy Storage Application
Carbon Nanotubes Derived from Yeast-Fermented Wheat Flour and Their Energy Storage Application
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DOI：
10.1021/acssuschemeng.8b01292
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发表时间：
2018-09-01
影响因子：
8.4
通讯作者：
Li, Xiaodong
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Gao, Zan;Song, Ningning;Li, Xiaodong
碳纳米管（CNT）在电池、传感器、催化剂载体、热电子器件和高强度复合材料等不同应用中的商业利益在全球范围内不断增长，这极大地扩大了对更高CNT生产能力的需求。然而，目前的CNT生产仍然由相对高成本的化学气相沉积（CVD）方法主导，其通常涉及高温、昂贵的催化剂和大量不可再生的石油衍生碳源。在这里，我们报告说，高密度的碳纳米管可以来自酵母发酵的小麦面团支架通过一个简单的，绿色，可持续的活化过程，而不使用任何额外的催化剂或额外的碳源。将活化小麦面团/碳纳米管（AWD/CNT）支架作为硫主体制备锂硫电池正极，组装的锂硫电池表现出优异的循环性能，即使在1C的高倍率充放电下循环1500次，其容量仍保持在450 mA h g（-1）左右。提出了一种“自催化”生长机制来解释酵母衍生的碳纳米管的形成。我们的新发现代表了碳纳米管开发的范式转变，并提供了一种有前途的解决方案，可以从天然和丰富的生物质材料中获得先进的可再生碳材料，用于能源存储应用。
Worldwide growing commercial interests in applying carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in diverse applications, such as batteries, sensors, catalyst supports, thermal electronics, and high-strength composites, have dramatically expanded the demand for higher CNT production capacity. However, current CNT production is still dominated by relatively high-cost chemical vapor deposition (CVD) methods, which usually involve high temperatures, expensive catalysts, and substantial quantities of nonrenewable petroleum-derived carbon sources. Here, we report that highly dense carbon nanotubes can be derived from yeast-fermented wheat dough scaffolds via a simple, green, and sustainable activation process without using any additional catalysts or extra carbon sources. When the activated wheat dough/carbon nanotube (AWD/CNT) scaffold is used as a sulfur host to prepare cathode for lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery, the assembled Li-S cell exhibited excellent cyclic performance, with a well-retained capacity of similar to 450 mA h g(-1) even after 1500 cycles at a high charge/discharge rate of 1 C. A "self-catalysis" growth mechanism is proposed to explain the formation of the yeast-derived CNTs. Our new findings represent a paradigm shift in developing CNTs and provide a promising solution to obtain advanced renewable carbon materials from natural and abundant biomass materials for use in energy storage applications.