Coaxially Coated Vertical Carbon Nanofiber Arrays as 3D Multifunctional Electrodes for Battery-Supercapacitor Hybrids

该奖项为研究和开发用于创建一组分层纳米结构电极的材料和方法提供资金。该方法将不同的功能纳米材料结合到一个独特的三维结构的基础上垂直纳米线阵列。靶向电极包括三元纳米结构，该三元纳米结构由以下组成：1）层压在2）刷状碳模板（即，在铜箔上生长的垂直排列的碳纳米管阵列），3）在其上进一步沉积导电聚合物层作为外护套。高导电性碳纳米管芯既可作为可靠的集流体，又可作为稳定的结构支撑，使锂与存储材料（金属氧化物或硅）快速反应，用于超级电容器和锂离子电池。稳定的碳纳米管芯和导电聚合物鞘的组合使得夹层锂储存材料可以适应充电-放电循环期间固有的大体积膨胀和收缩。如果成功的话，这项研究的结果将导致基于锂离子的电池-超级电容器混合动力，具有显着提高的功率密度，更大的能量容量和延长的循环寿命，克服限制许多其他此类电能存储设备实用性的缺点。通过沉积合适的储锂材料，三元复合材料可以用作阴极或阳极。制造这些材料的方法是基于适用于工业制造的可扩展处理技术。该研究涉及高性能电能存储解决方案，这些解决方案是可再生能源开发和利用的重要组成部分。

This award provides funding for the study and development of materials and methods for the creation of a set of hierarchical nanostructured electrodes. The approach combines dissimilar functional nanomaterials into a unique three-dimensional architecture based on vertical nanowire arrays. The targeted electrode comprises a ternary nanostructure consisting of: 1) a coaxial coating of a thin film of a lithium storage material such as a metal oxide (for cathode use) or silicon (for anode use) layered on 2) a brush-like carbon template (i.e., a vertically aligned carbon nanofiber array grown on a copper foil) onto which 3) an electrically conductive polymer layer is further deposited as an outer sheath. The highly conductive carbon nanofiber core serves both as a reliable current collector and as a stable structural support, enabling fast lithium reactions with the storage materials (metal oxides or silicon) for applications in supercapacitors and Li-ion batteries. The combination of the stable carbon nanofiber core and conductive polymer sheath makes it possible for the sandwiched lithium storage materials to accommodate the inherent large volumetric expansion and contraction during charge-discharge cycles. If successful, the results of this research will lead to Li-ion based battery-supercapacitor hybrids with significantly improved power density, greater energy capacity, and prolonged cycle life, overcoming drawbacks that limit the utility of many other such electrical energy storage devices. The ternary composites can be used as either cathodes or anodes through the deposition of appropriate lithium storage materials. The approach to fabricating these materials is based on scalable processing technologies that are suitable for industrial manufacturing. This research addresses high-performance electrical energy storage solutions that form an essential part of the development and utilization of renewable energy resources.