Research Initiation Award: Nanoscale fine-tuning of porosity of NiO/carbon hollow nanocomposites templated by polymeric micelles for next generation energy storage devices

研究启动奖为历史悠久的黑人学院和大学的初级和职业生涯中期教师提供支持，这些教师正在建立新的研究计划或重新定向和重建现有的研究计划。预计该奖项有助于进一步提高教师的研究能力和有效性，改善所在机构的研究和教学，并让本科生参与研究经验。授予北卡罗来纳农业与技术州立大学的奖项有可能扩大几个领域的影响。这项拟议的研究将开发一锅法合成方法，将对电化学储能产生影响。这项研究将导致新工具的开发和新材料的制造。本科生将接受储能新材料的研究、设计、开发和制造方面的培训。该项目的目标是合成用于电极材料的多孔空心NiO/碳纳米复合材料。采用自下而上的溶胶-凝胶法，以实验室合成的嵌段共聚物和低分子表面活性剂为模板和结构导向剂。溶胶-凝胶合成中的主要挑战是无机源与聚合物模板的相互作用。聚合物模板的设计将使其能够强烈阻止无机/有机来源。通过改变模板的分子质量或其溶液性质，可以很容易地实现对纳米多孔材料的形状、大小、孔隙率和结晶度的微调。本研究将为软硬化学相结合设计分级纳米多孔中空NiO/碳纳米复合材料提供更多的认识。纳米多孔材料将被开发为超级电容器的电极材料。具有内部氧化镍层和外部碳层的空心纳米球将保护这些成分中的每一个不受电化学溶解的影响，并显示出更好的超级电容性能。该项目将对从根本上理解电极材料的形貌、孔结构和表面原子结构之间的关系做出重大贡献，以增强储能设备的电化学性质。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Research Initiation Awards provide support for junior and mid-career faculty at Historically Black Colleges and Universities who are building new research programs or redirecting and rebuilding existing research programs. It is expected that the award helps to further the faculty member's research capability and effectiveness, improve research and teaching at the home institution, and involves undergraduate students in research experiences. The award to North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University has potential to broaden impacts in several areas. The proposed study will develop one-pot synthetic methods that will have an impact in electrochemical energy storage. The research will result in the development of new tools and fabrication of new materials. Undergraduate students will received training in research, design, development and manufacturing of new materials for energy storage. The goal of the project is to synthesize porous hollow NiO/carbon nanocomposites for electrode materials. A bottom up sol-gel approach will be adopted in which the laboratory synthesized block copolymer and low molecular weight surfactant will be used as template and structure directing agent. The main challenge in sol-gel synthesis is the interaction of inorganic sources with polymer template. The polymeric template will be designed in such a way that it can arrest inorganic/organic source strongly. Fine-tuning of shape, size, porosity, and crystallinity of nanoporous materials will be readily achieved by changing either the template’s molecular weight or its solution properties. This research will provide a greater understanding of combination of soft and hard chemistry to design hierarchical nanoporous hollow NiO/carbon nanocomposites. The nanoporous materials will be explored as an electrode material for supercapacitors. The hollow nanospheres with an interior nickel oxide layer and an exterior carbon layer will protect each of these components from electrochemical dissolution and show improved supercapacitive performance. The project will make a significant contribution to fundamental understanding of the relationships among morphologies, pore structures, and surface atomic structures of electrode materials to enhance the electrochemical properties of energy storage devices.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.