Electrochemical Intercalation in Defective Oxide Nanosheets

非技术描述：新的和改进的存储电能的方法对于手持式电子设备和将新的可再生能源整合到我们的电网中至关重要。研究的重点是通过有意地在构成电极的陶瓷纳米片上引入原子级缺陷，来寻找提高电池或电容器中储存能量的新方法。我们感兴趣的陶瓷纳米片非常薄，只有5-10个原子，它们在储存能量方面表现出不同寻常的特性，从而产生了更好的电容器（被称为超级电容器，弥补了传统电容器和可充电电池之间的差距）。使用新方法来测量薄陶瓷纳米片的结构缺陷，并将这些知识与测量的电存储行为相结合，为设计新的超级电容器提供了一条途径，这可能会改变我们使用传统和可再生能源的方式。该项目包括一个由两名研究生和两名本科生组成的团队，面向参加京瓷博物馆项目的各个年龄段的校园游客。技术细节：总体技术目标是首次定量评估法拉第超级电容器模型单层纳米片系统中故意阳离子缺陷对质子插层的电化学效应。模型体系包括MnO6和VO6八面体纳米片，其中八面体缺陷的大部分（高达20%）可能在合成过程中引入。阳离子缺陷包括带电金属离子空位和MO6八面体，它们从原子平面的纳米片上位移。这些缺陷形成新的质子吸附和嵌入位点，可以显著提高储能容量。新的x射线散射方法可以直接研究纳米片中的缺陷，模型单层纳米片结构为确定赝电容电荷存储中缺陷的未知作用提供了平台。后者可以通过定义理想的纳米和中尺度结构来促进超级电容器的商业化，从而实现转型。

NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: New and improved approaches to storing electrical energy are critical for hand-held electronics and for integrating new renewable energy sources into our electrical power grid. The research focus is on finding new ways of improving the amount of energy stored in a battery or capacitor by intentionally introducing atomic-scale defects into ceramic nanosheets that form the electrodes. The ceramic nanosheets of interest are remarkably thin - only 5-10 atoms - and they display unusual properties for storing energy, resulting in better capacitors (called supercapacitors that bridge the gap between conventional capacitors and rechargeable batteries). Using new methods to measure the structural defects in the thin ceramic nanosheets and combining that knowledge with the measured electrical storage behavior provides a path to engineering new supercapacitors that may transform the way we use traditional and renewable energy sources. The project includes a team of two graduate students and two undergraduate students and reaches campus visitors of all ages who participate in the Kyocera Museum programs.TECHNICAL DETAILS: The overall technical objective is to provide the first quantitative assessment of the electrochemical effects of intentional cation defects on proton intercalation in model single-layer nanosheet systems for Faradaic supercapacitors. Model systems include nanosheets of MnO6 and VO6 octahedra, where large fractions of octahedral defects, up to 20%, may be introduced during synthesis. The cation defects include charged metal ion vacancies and MO6 octahedra that are displaced from the otherwise atomically-flat nanosheet. The defects form new proton adsorption and intercalation sites that may markedly increase the energy storage capacity. New X-ray scattering methods enable direct study of the defects in nanosheets, and the model single-layer nanosheet structure provides a platform to determine the unknown roles of defects in pseudocapacitive charge storage. The latter may be transformational by defining the ideal nano- and meso-scale structures to facilitate commercialization of supercapacitors.