Tailored Carbon Spherogel / Metal Oxide Hybrid Monoliths for Electrochemical Applications

该项目位于整体碳气凝胶领域，这是一种备受青睐的高性能电化学储能电极材料(例如超级电容器)。最近发现的完全由中空球体组成的整体碳球凝胶具有独特的性能组合，即具有高比表面积、高电化学电容和高速率能力的独立和可逆压缩样品块，以及对材料微观形态的明显控制。此外，随着金属氧化物被引入到中空球中，碳球凝胶显示出作为杂化碳变体的前景。(A)将从内径大小、壁厚和合成后处理等方面探索合成具有极高微网络均匀度和比表面积高达2500平方米/克的独立、可逆压缩的碳球凝胶。作为超级电容器中的直接靶材，它们在压缩下的电化学性能与离子传输或电荷传播等现象有关。(B)将金属氧化物落实到碳球凝胶支架(混合碳球凝胶)中将通过使用功能性聚苯乙烯球体作为模板或通过共缩合策略来实现。这些混合球凝胶将被用于锂离子电池应用，其中碳(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。该项目的方法学策略包括基于溶胶-凝胶法合成(杂化)碳球凝胶材料，详细分析形态、化学成分和孔结构，以及用于超级电容器应用的电化学研究的电池设置。与基于间苯二酚-甲醛的普通碳气凝胶相比，2019年发现的Out模板化合成路线为碳球凝胶提供了一种具有很高潜力的方法，可以获得范围很广、变化非常小的碳形态。这种高度均匀的整体碳是可逆的，到目前为止还不为人所知。深入的电化学研究将展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.