Tailored Carbon Spherogel / Metal Oxide Hybrid Monoliths for Electrochemical Applications

该项目位于单片碳气凝胶领域，作为电化学储能（如超级电容器）的高性能电极材料备受青睐。单片碳球凝胶，完全由空心球体构成，最近被发现，具有独特的性能组合，即独立和可逆压缩的样品块，具有高表面积，高电化学电容和速率能力，以及对材料微观形态的独特控制。此外，在将金属氧化物掺入空心球体后，碳球凝胶有望成为混合碳变体。假设/研究问题/目标。(A)在内径尺寸、壁厚和合成后处理方面，将探索具有极高微网络均匀性和高达2500 m2/g表面积的独立、可逆可压缩碳球凝胶的合成。作为超级电容器的直接靶材，它们在压缩条件下的电化学性能将与离子传输或电荷传播等现象相关。(B)金属氧化物进入碳球凝胶支架（混合碳球凝胶）将通过使用功能聚苯乙烯球作为模板或通过共缩合策略来实现。在锂离子电池中，碳（导电相）和氧化还原活性相（非碳）的协同组合对于实现高性能和稳定的充放电循环非常重要，将探索这些混合球凝胶的应用。该项目的系统策略包括溶胶-凝胶合成（杂化）碳球凝胶材料，详细分析形貌、化学成分和孔隙结构，以及超级电容器应用的电化学研究的电池设置。原创性/创新水平。与基于间苯二酚-甲醛的常见碳气凝胶相比，我们于2019年发现的模板化碳气凝胶合成路线为碳球凝胶提供了一种高潜力的方法，可以处理各种碳形态，且差异很小。这种高度均匀的整体碳是同时可逆可压缩的，到目前为止还不为人所知。深入的电化学研究将显示它们在未来储能应用中的潜力。

This project is located in the field of monolithic carbon aerogels, which are favored as high-performance electrode materials for electrochemical energy storage (e.g., supercapacitors). Monolithic carbon spherogels, solely built out of hollow spheres, recently discovered, feature a unique combination of properties, namely free-standing and reversibly compressible sample bulks with high surface areas, high electrochemical capacitances, and rate capabilities, and a distinct control of the material’s micromorphology. Furthermore, carbon spherogels show promise as hybrid carbon variants following the incorporation of metal oxides into the hollow spheres.Hypotheses/research questions/objectives. (A) The synthesis of free-standing, reversibly compressible carbon spherogels with extraordinarily high micro-network homogeneity and surface areas up to 2500 m2/g will be explored with regards to interior diameter size, wall thickness, and post-synthesis treatments. As direct targets in supercapacitors, their electrochemical performance under compression will be correlated to phenomena such as ion transport or charge propagation. (B) Implementation of metal oxides into the carbon spherogel scaffold (hybrid carbon spherogels) will be realized by the use of functional polystyrene spheres as a template or by co-condensation strategies. These hybrid spherogels will be explored for lithium-ion battery applications where the synergetic combination of carbon (conductive phase) and redox-active phase (non-carbon) is of high importance to achieve high performance and stable charge/discharge cycling.Approach/methods. The methodical strategy of the project contains sol-gel based synthesis of (hybrid) carbon spherogel materials, detailed analysis of the morphology, chemical composition, and pore structure as well as cell setup for electrochemical investigations for supercapacitor applications.Level of originality/innovation. Compared to common carbon aerogels based on resorcinol-formaldehyde, out templated synthesis route, discovered in 2019, to carbon spherogels offers a high potential method to a wide range of carbon morphologies with very narrow variance. Such highly homogeneous, monolithic carbons being concomitantly reversible compressible are up to now not known. In-depth electrochemical investigations will show their potential for future energy storage applications.