bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of Al2O3 Coatings Prepared By RF Sputtering on Polyethylene Separators for High Power Lithium-Ion Batteries
Authors: Lee Taejoo , Lee Yunju , Appiah Williams Agyei , Kim Sang Hern , Yeon Daeyong , Lee Hoogil , Ryou Myung-Hyun , Lee Yong Min 
Published: February 2020

Most of the separators currently used in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are based on microporous polyolefin membranes such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). Such separators have excellent mechanical strength and chemical stability, but their thermal properties should be further improved to meet required level of safety for large-format LIBs. In order to achieve this goal, highly heat-resistive components including ceramic coated layers [1] and thermal resistive polymeric layers [2, 3] are introduced onto separator surfaces via dip-coating method, atomic layer deposition, and chemical vapor deposition method.
In order to develop a novel and economical process with continuous processing, in this study, we introduced Radio Frequency (RF) sputtering method for fabricating aluminum oxide (Al2O3) ceramic coating layers onto PE separators. Coating thickness of Al2O3 layers was controlled as a function of RF sputtering power and coating time. We also evaluated morphological changes of PE separators in regard to sputtering time by measuring Gurley number, wettability, and ionic conductivity. The unit cells employing coated PE separators revealed similar level of cell performance compared to those of the unit cells employing bare PE separators. We believe that the improved wetting ability of ceramic coating layers successfully compensates pore-blocking effect. On the other hand, we verified that heat resistance of Al2O3 coated PE separators was remarkably improved out of a short sputtering time.

References

[1] H. Jeong, S. Hong,and S. Lee, Journal of Membrane Science 364 (2010) 177-182
[2] Y. Lee, M. Ryou, M. Seo, J. Choi, and Y. Lee, Elec. Acta, 113 (2013) 433-438
[3] J. Song, M. Ryou, B. son, J. Lee, D. Lee, Y. Lee, J. Choi, and J. Park, Elec. Acta, 85 (2012) 524-530
Analysis of Mechanical Degradation in Lithium-Ion Battery Electrodes
Authors: Barai Pallab , Schulz Volker P , Mukherjee Partha P. 
Published: February 2020

Lithium-ion battery (LIB) electrodes consist of four different phases; active particle, binder, conductive additive and electrolyte. During operation, the active particles (e.g. graphite anode, lithium metal oxide cathode) are responsible for hosting the Li ions. Conductive additives help in increasing the electronic conductivity of the electrode. The binder, typically PVDF, holds the active particles and conductive additives together and gives mechanical stability to the electrode. The electrolyte occupies the pore-space and forms the electrochemically active interfacial area with the active particles and provides pathways for lithium-ion transport. Lithium ions intercalate and deintercalate into the host material through diffusion process. This can cause significant swelling in the active particles and induce diffusion induced stress. For high-capacity active materials, the swelling can be significant. Because of swelling, the active particles squeeze the binders and nearby conductive additives to make space for themselves. During delithiation, the active particles shrink. Because of its inherent plasticity, the binders cannot restore its initial configuration. As a result, delamination may occur and the contact between the active particles and the conductive additives may be lost, which eventually would lead to capacity fade and deterioration in performance of the lithium ion battery. Diffusion induced stress may lead to mechanical degradation in terms of formation of microcracks in the active particles. Nucleation of these microcracks results in formation of spanning cracks which eventually leads to catastrophic failure of the material.
We have demonstrated a random lattice spring based methodology to characterize the development of microscopic damage and their subsequent nucleation to form crack fronts. According the lattice spring method, breaking of each bond is simulated by solving the equilibrium equation. A discrete lattice based model will be developed to characterize the nonlinear deformation of binder materials. Delamination between the active particles and the binders will also be captured. Part (a), (b) and (c) in the figure provides a schematic demonstration of the delamination mechanism observed in lithium ion batteries. Part (d) of the figure shows mechanical degradation inside an active particle during delithiation. In this work, we will highlight the implications of mechanical degradation in terms of interfacial delamination and micro-crack formation in the LIB electrodes.
Composite NiO-NiSe Thin Film Fabricated by Pulse Laser Deposition as a New Anode of Lithium Ion Batteries
Authors: Cui Yanhua , Dai Hequn , Liu Xiaojiang , Fu Zhengwen 
Published: February 2020

In 2000, Tarascon et al. revealed the reversible conversion reaction based on the size effect of nanoparticles in metal oxide system, whose theoretical capacity is up to 1000mAh·g-1[1]. However, except large capacity, metal oxide as anode material has its own drawbacks. For example, the electronic conductivity of metal oxides is usually poor, and some of them will form alloy with lithium during the reaction process which cause huge volume change. In order to overcome these obstacles, lots of methods have been presented. Mainly includes the following ways: 1) Fabricating thin film materials, 2) Synthesizing nanostructured materials, 3) Doping or preparing composite materials. Further works showed the doping is effective and convenient in thin film fabrication, and the composite thin films usually obtained better performance than the single system.
NiO-NiSe nanocomposite films were fabricated by plused laser deposition. Charge/discharge measurements, cyclic voltammograms and AC impedance tests were used to investigate cyclic performance and electrochemical properties of the materials. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) were employed to detect the structure, morphology and composition of these nanocomposite films in certain electrochemical states. In addition, the electrochemical reaction mechanism of the films versus Li were discussed.
The results indicated that: Compared with the single system NiO or NiSe, the transfer resistance of lithium ion in NiO-NiSe nanocomposite thin film is smaller. NiO-NiSe electrode also exhibited a little higher discharge-charge capacity and better cycle performance. After 50 cycles, a reversible capacity of 495mAh.g-1 can still be obtained. NiO-NiSe nanocomposite film also has good rate capability and is more suitable for lithium-ion battery anode material. The electrochemical reaction mechanism investigation showed that NiO and NiSe in the electrode reacted with lithium separately and could be reversibly reproduced.
In Field Applications of Single Chamber Membraneless Microbial Fuel Cells (SCMFCs) for Wastewater Treatment, Metal Reduction and Nutrients Removal
Authors: Cristiani Pierangela , Trasatti Stefano P. 
Published: February 2020

In this study, prototypes of SCMFCs were applied or are in process to be applied for real world applications. Particularly, several large surface electrodes MFCs are currently operating in the 32 parallel lines wastewater treatment plant of Nosedo (Milan,Italy). Different chemical and biological conditions led to favorable environment for the development of effective bioanodes and biocathodes in MFCs immersed in the anoxic and aerobic tanks, despite low organic load in the wastewater inlet. The influence of carbon electrode surface extent was preliminary evaluated, showing the possibility of scale-up processes.
Another preliminary study is currently in progress in the water of a prealpine meromictic lake (Idro Lake, Italy). The possibility of using bio-electrochemical/electrolyses system for remediating a local pollution will be deployed. The typical presence of the net separation between an aerobic and anaerobic area in the water body makes a meromictic lake affine to a massive MFC. A optimized procedure for the electro-sorption of specific oxide/hydroxide transitional metals (e.g. manganese and other metals and nutrients) on cathodes of MFC systems will be developed for the application in field, as a new innovative strategy for metal pollution remediation.
Future applications will be also directed in deploying sediment MFC with anode immersed in the sediments and cathode covered by plants. Based on the preliminary results, a “garden island” will be designed for covering a wetland in order to reduce significantly also the organic load in the pool. Prototype of multi–array MFCs, with an impressive design and style of “little floating garden” will be studied and presented at the International Exposition in Milan 2015.
Preliminary experimentations are now devoted to develop and validate electrochemically/chemically activated materials and hierarchically catalyzed surfaces, in collaboration with several different specialists, in order to enhance the performance of cathodes and anodes of the SCMFC tested and decrease operating costs.
Research and Study of Low-cost and Reliable Materials for Anode and Cathode Electrodes in Bioelectrochemical Systems (BESs): Scale Up of Materials for Real Application
Authors: Santoro Carlo , Babanova Sofia , Atanassov Plamen , Trasatti Stefano P. , Cristiani Pierangela 
Published: February 2020

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a bioelectrochemical capable of oxidizing organics compounds and generating electricity simultaneously. The ultimate goal would be to realize a low cost treatment system that would work in self-sustainable. In order to achieve that, our groups are moving towards materials study, characterization, modification and development and optimization with the vision of scaling up BES.
Several sets of anodes carbonaceous and metallic materials have been investigated. Carbonaceous materials have been investigated and functionalized with chemical and electrochemical technique in order to increase oxygen and nitrogen functional groups that allow faster and higher bacteria attachment enhancing the biofilm electro-activity and electrons generation. Unfortunately, carbonaceous materials are very expensive and not enough robust to be deployed in long terms operation. As alternative, stainless steel (SS304) commercially available plain sheet has been investigated achieving similar performances compared to carbonaceous-based electrodes. The establishment of strictly anaerobic conditions in a short amount of time guaranteed also the conditions necessary to avoid metal corrosion. SS304 looks to be promising for large-scale applications due to the materials robustness and very reduced cost (order of magnitudes lower than carbonaceous-based groups). Further studies are currently in progress towards the direction of optimizing the SS304 material adding functional groups, hierarchically organized carbon structures and protecting the SS from long term possible deterioration and corrosion.
Several sets of cathodes have been deployed also in order to replace the more expensive and utilized platinum and guarantee long terms conditions. Cathodes based on cheap and high surface area activated carbon has been deployed for treating wastewaters. Other efficient, highly active and low cost catalysts based on non-PGM catalysts have been also studied with high performances and actually better behavior of platinum in SCMFC due to the establishment of highly alkaline conditions in proximity of the cathode. Moreover, those catalysts showed a better resistance to get pollutants from toxic compounds naturally present into wastewater. The low cost, high performance and reduced possibility to get poisoned make non-PGM a suitable choice of catalysts to be deployed in BESs.
Electrofuel Production Using Genetically Engineered Acidithiobacillus Ferrooxidans
Authors: Banta Scott , West Alan 
Published: February 2020

We have been developing an electrofuels platform for the production of fuels and chemicals from dilute CO2 using electricity. The electricity can come from diverse sources which enables this technology to serve as an alternative means for storing and utilizing renewable energy. The process uses Acidothiobacillus ferrooxidans which are chemolithoautotrophic bacteria that can oxidize iron at low pH. The oxidized iron can be reduced electrochemically and recycled to the bioreactor. We have extensively characterized the growth of the wild type Acidothiobacillus ferrooxidans cells in continuous cultures and we have found that the use of chelators such as citric acid can enable growth at higher pH ranges which can improve growth efficiency, maximum cell yields, and steady state cell densities. We have also developed a platform for genetically modifying the Acidothiobacillus ferrooxidans cells and we have now expressed 4 different exogenous genes in this host organism. This is enabling us to explore new promoters and regulatory sequences to direct carbon flux through new synthetic metabolic pathways. For example, we have introduced a pathway for isobutyric acid production and the results of the characterization of these new cell lines will be presented.
We have developed an optimized media formulation for combining the biochemical and electrochemical reactors together, and we have performed extended experiments of the integrated system using wild type cells, allowing us to calculate biomass produced per kWhr of electricity under different operating conditions. We have also build a prototype system with some process control to enable longer term evaluation of the electrofuels platform, and the latest results of this technology will be presented.
Disinfection of Liquid Human Waste through Photoelectrochemical Treatment
Authors: Peng Qing , Raut Akshay S. , Cordova Isvar A. , Parker Charles B. , Amsden Jason J. , Stoner Brian R. , Glass Jeffrey T. 
Published: February 2020

Currently, one third of the world population does not have sufficient access to clean water for personal sanitation and proper wastewater disposal.1 Global population growth, climate change, and pollution from human activities pose an even heavier burden on the available water resources.1,2 Therefore, sustainable methods that can disinfect liquid human waste (LHW) into reusable water before discharging into the environment are urgently needed to address water and energy challenges.1,3

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) processes are a promising method to address this challenge by utilizing inexhaustible solar energy to reclaim water from LHW and generate/store energy. In a typical PEC device, the semiconductor/liquid junction is formed spontaneously when a semiconductor is immersed in an electrolyte. Owing to the band bending of the semiconductor (n-type as an example), photoexcited (e-
)/(h+
) pairs in the depletion region of the semiconductor are then separated and migrate to the interfaces of electrode/electrolyte to drive reduction (e.g., proton reduction for H2 production) and oxidation (e.g., oxidizing organics or water) reaction respectively.
In this presentation, we will present the preliminary data showing PEC process as a viable process to reclaim LHW, which consists of human urine, as well as bacteria and organics from solid waste. Human urine consists of water (>95 wt.%), urea ~9g/L, chloride 2g/L, sodium 1g/L, potassium ~1g/L, and other organics such as tryptone. The possibility of generating chlorine oxidative species through PEC with LHW as the electrolyte for disinfection will be shown. We will also present the generation rate of chlorine oxidative species through PEC using TiO2 nanowire-based electrodes (Fig. 1), as well as the effects of organics in LHW on chlorine oxidative species generation rate by using model electrolytes. Fig 1 shows that total Cl oxidative species generation rate with photocurrent of TiO2 nanowire (NW) electrode. The electrode with 1.8mA photocurrent is about 3 times of the electrode area of 0.5mA. The effect of the supporting electrolyte, light scattering/absorption, and biofouling of the PEC electrode surface on the disinfection process will also be included in the presentation. In summary, we will show the promise of a PEC strategy for reclaiming water from LHW, along with challenges to be overcome for practical implementation of this method.

Reference:

1 Grant, S. B., et.al. Taking the "Waste" Out of "Wastewater" for Human Water Security and Ecosystem Sustainability. Science
337, 681-686, (2012).
2 Vorosmarty, C. J., et al. Global threats to human water security and river biodiversity. Nature
467, 555-561, (2010).
3 Cho, K., Kwon, D. & Hoffmann, M. R. Electrochemical treatment of human waste coupled with molecular hydrogen production. Rsc Advances
4, 4596-4608, (2014).
Use of Langmuir Blodgett Thin Films in Tunnel Diodes for Energy Harvesting or Sensing Applications
Authors: Sharma Saumya , Stefanakos Elias , Goswami Yogi , Hoff Andrew , Ram Manoj 
Published: February 2020

Tunnel diodes have been found suitable for use in high frequency rectification for energy harvesting or sensing applications in structures known as rectennas. For tunneling to take place in a metal insulator metal (MIM) type assembly, an ultrathin pinhole free insulating layer must be deposited between the metal layers for the diode to operate with small turn on voltages.
Langmuir Blodgett (LB) thin film deposition is a useful technique that allows the deposition of conformal, uniform monomolecular layers with a precise control of thickness. Organic compounds such as Vinyl Stearate, 10-12 Pentacosadiynoic Acid (PDA), Arachidic Acid and Porphyrin were considered for deposition onto a Nickel film and were later topped with a small metal contact to complete the metal insulator metal diode assembly.
Optical, electrochemical and electrical characterization were performed to check the quality of deposition of the thin insulator film and to analyze its material properties. Specifically, UV spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy and infrared spectroscopy techniques were utilized for this purpose. An electrochemical study was performed with the insulating monolayers deposited using the LB method on an Indium Tin Oxide coated glass substrate.
Picoammeter measurements on the metal insulator metal junctions showed improved tunneling characteristics with fewer pinholes in the film after UV initiated polymerization. This was possible due to the intermolecular crosslinking in the film which was induced by the UV exposure. This was confirmed with the detection of more pronounced peaks at C=C vibration frequencies.
Invited Talk: React-in-Place Battery Electrodes for Large Scale Energy Storage
Authors: Steingart Daniel A , Gupta Tanya , Van Tassell Barry , Zamarayeva Alla 
Published: February 2020

We present a coupling of synthesis and deposition procedures for large scale, high performance electrochemical energy storage electrodes. We will use inkjet deposited precursors to create oxides, hydroxides, sulfides, and phosphates from combinations of a range of homogeneous liquid precursors. A range of equilibrium (e.g. hot/cold stage) and nonequlibrium (laser) post processing tools have been built into the machine to allow for control of both chemical kinetics and morphology.
At first this coupling may seem counterintuitive. The separation of active material synthesis and deposition allows for chemists and process engineers to optimize for two differents operations rather a single operation as we proposed above. The problem with this decoupled approach is that battery electrodes suffer from the difficult problem of “repeatable painting of high mass loaded slurries.” Inch-to-inch and batch-to-batch the electrode has variations in porosity and active material mixing that in the worst electrodes leads to inconsistent capacity and in the all electrodes leads to inconsistent impedance as a function of position and electrode number. For low rate, low cycle systems this impedance mismatch is less of a problem, but as higher rates are demanded for longer cycle lifes in smaller form factors (e.g. high performance portable electronics, electric vehicles), the uncertainty of the art of slurry casting becomes a significant challenge for industry. Beyond this, the poor ordering and rough surfaces left by traditional slurry casting and provide difficulties for creating batteries for conformal/flexible applications.
This is a recognized problem and there are many efforts which are recoupling materials processing and device processing to solve this problem, including layer-by-layer electrode assembly and co-extrusion processes. Our effort furthers this recoupling by creating the desired structure repeatedly at the correct locations at high throughput and with heretofore unrealized layer registration for batteries.
Inkjet printers have exceptional reliability and repeatability with liquid-only inks, while nanoparticle laden inks either 1) quickly clog heads at high solid mass loading or 2) result in isolated/poorly percolated particle coatings at low solid mass loading. This is acceptable for typographic inks, certain sensor systems, and catalyst links, but not for electrochemical energy storage systems. By jetting and mixing chemical precursors on sorbet substrates, we can accomplish two goals
1) at a laboratory scale we can using combinatorial methods to test non-stoichiometric, many component and/or composite structures for optimal processes
2) at a production scale we can synthesis the same structure with 10 µm precission over many meters of film per hour.