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- Araujo, Rafael Barros Neves de, et al.
(författare)
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Divulging the Hidden Capacity and Sodiation Kinetics of NaxC6Cl4O2 : A High Voltage Organic Cathode for Sodium Rechargeable Batteries
- 2017
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Ingår i: The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1932-7447 .- 1932-7455. ; 121:26, s. 14027-14036
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the current emerging sustainable organic battery field, quinones are seen as one of the prime candidates for application in rechargeable battery electrodes. Recently, C6Cl4O2, a modified quinone, has been proposed as a high voltage organic cathode. However, the sodium insertion mechanism behind the cell reaction remained unclear due to the nescience of the right crystal structure. Here, the framework of the density functional theory (DFT) together with an evolutionary algorithm was employed to elucidate the crystal structures of the compounds NaxC6Cl4O2 (x = 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2). Along with the usefulness of PBE functional to reflect the experimental potential, also the importance of the hybrid functional to divulge the hidden theoretical capacity is evaluated. We showed that the experimentally observed lower specific capacity is a result of the great stabilization of the intermediate phase Na1.5C6Cl4O2. The calculated activation barriers for the ionic hops are 0.68, 0.40, and 0.31 eV, respectively, for NaC6Cl4O2, Na1.5C6Cl4O2, and Na2C6Cl4O2. These results indicate that the kinetic process must not be a limiting factor upon Na insertion. Finally, the correct prediction of the specific capacity has confirmed that the theoretical strategy used, employing evolutionary simulations together with the hybrid functional framework, can rightly model the thermodynamic process in organic electrode compounds.
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- Araújo, Rafael Barros Neves de
(författare)
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Energy Storage Materials: Insights From ab Initio Theory : Diffusion, Structure, Thermodynamics and Design.
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The development of science and technology have provided a lifestyle completely dependent on energy consumption. Devices such as computers and mobile phones are good examples of how our daily life depends on electric energy. In this scenario, energy storage technologies emerge with strategic importance providing efficient ways to transport and commercialize the produced energy. Rechargeable batteries come as the most suitable alternative to fulfill the market demand due to their higher energy- and power- density when compared with other electrochemical energy storage systems. In this context, during the production of this thesis, promising compounds for advanced batteries application were investigated from the theoretical viewpoint. The framework of the density functional theory has been employed together with others theoretical tools to study properties such as ionic diffusion, redox potential, electronic structure and crystal structure prediction.Different organic materials were theoretically characterized with quite distinct objectives. For instance, a protocol able to predict the redox potential in solution of long oligomers were developed and tested against experimental measurements. Strategies such as anchoring of small active molecules on polymers backbone have also been investigated through a screening process that determined the most promising candidates. Methods such as evolutionary simulation and basin-hopping algorithm were employed to search for global minimum crystal structures of small molecules and inorganic compounds working as a cathode of advanced sodium batteries. The crystal structure evolution of C6Cl4O2 upon Na insertion was unveiled and the main reasons behind the lower specific capacity obtained in the experiment were clarified. Ab initio molecular dynamics and the nudged elastic band method were employed to understand the underlying ionic diffusion mechanisms in the recently proposed Alluaudite and Eldfellite cathode materials. Moreover, it was demonstrated that electronic conduction in Na2O2, a byproduct of the Na-O2 battery, occurs via hole polarons hopping. Important physical and chemical insights were obtained during the production of this thesis. It finally supports the development of low production cost, environmental friendliness and efficient electrode compounds for advanced secondary batteries.
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- Barros Neves de Araújo, Rafael, 1985, et al.
(författare)
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Towards novel calcium battery electrolytes by efficient computational screening
- 2021
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Ingår i: Energy Storage Materials. - : Elsevier BV. - 2405-8297. ; 39, s. 89-95
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The development of Ca conducting electrolytes is key to enable functional rechargeable Ca batteries. The here presented screening strategy is initially based on a combined density functional theory (DFT) and conductor-like screening model for real solvents (COSMO-RS) approach, which allows for a rational selection of electrolyte solvent based on a set of physico-chemical and electrochemical properties: solvation power, electrochemical stability window, viscosity, and flash and boiling points. Starting from 81 solvents, N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) was chosen as solvent for further studies of cation-solvent interactions and subsequent comparisons vs. cation-anion interactions possibly present in electrolytes, based on a limited set of Ca-salts. A Ca first solvation shell of [Ca(DMF) ] was found to be energetically preferred, even as compared to ion-pairs and aggregates, especially for PF and TFSI as the anions. Overall, this points to Ca(TFSI) and Ca(PF ) dissolved in DMF to be a promising base electrolyte for Ca batteries from a physico-chemical point-of-view. While electrochemical assessments certainly are needed to verify this promise, the screening strategy presented is efficient and a useful stepping-stone to reduce the overall R&D effort.
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- Campos dos Santos, Egon, et al.
(författare)
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Efficient Screening of Bi-Metallic Electrocatalysts for Glycerol Valorization
- 2021
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Ingår i: Electrochimica Acta. - : Elsevier BV. - 0013-4686 .- 1873-3859. ; 398
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Glycerol is a byproduct of biodiesel production and, as such, it is of limited economic value. By means of electrooxidation, glycerol can be used as a feedstock for scalable hydrogen production, in addition to conversion to value-added products. The development of novel and efficient catalytic electrode materials for the anodic side of the reaction is a key towards a hydrogen-based energy economy. In the present study, a computational screening protocol combining DFT, scaling relations, and microkinetic modeling allows for a rational selection of novel catalysts that can deliver efficient glycerol electrooxidation, low cost of production, and environmental sustainability. Activity and chemical selectivity towards hydrogen production on pure metal catalysts is discussed in terms of volcano-shaped plots. We find that the selectivity in the glycerol oxidation reaction is influenced by a different energy landscape when in the presence of water and best classified by a comparison of O-H and C-H bond-breaking barriers. In addition, we screened 3570 bi-metallic catalysts in the AB (L1(0)) and A(3)B (L1(2)) ordered structures for activity, stability, price, and toxicity. By filtering based on the criteria for toxicity, resistance to oxidation, miscibility, and price, we have identified 5 L1(0) structured catalysts (AgPd, AuPd, PtSb, CuPt, and AgPt) and 20 L1(2) catalysts (Ga3Ta, In3Ta, Ir3W, Ir3Mo, Cu3Pt, Ir3Ta, Ir3Re, Pd3Bi, Pd3Cu, Pd3W, Pd3Co, Pd3Sn, Pd3Mo, Pd3Ag, Pd3Ga, Pd3Ta, Au3Ru, Pd3In, Au3Ir, and Pd3Au) that are all predicted to show high activity. We also identify an additional 37 L1(0) and 92 L1(2) structured electrocatalysts with an anticipated medium-high activity.
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| 7. |
- Das, Suman, et al.
(författare)
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Alloying in an Intercalation Host : Metal Titanium Niobates as Anodes for Rechargeable Alkali-Ion Batteries
- 2018
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Ingår i: Chemistry - An Asian Journal. - : Wiley-VCH Verlagsgesellschaft. - 1861-4728 .- 1861-471X. ; 13:3, s. 299-310
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We discuss here a unique flexible non-carbonaceous layered host, namely, metal titanium niobates (M-Ti-niobate, M: Al3+, Pb2+, Sb3+, Ba2+, Mg2+), which can synergistically store both lithium ions and sodium ions via a simultaneous intercalation and alloying mechanisms. M-Ti-niobate is formed by ion exchange of the K+ ions, which are specifically located inside galleries between the layers formed by edge and corner sharing TiO6 and NbO6 octahedral units in the sol-gel synthesized potassium titanium niobate (KTiNbO5). Drastic volume changes (approximately 300-400%) typically associated with an alloying mechanism of storage are completely tackled chemically by the unique chemical composition and structure of the M-Ti-niobates. The free space between the adjustable Ti/Nb octahedral layers easily accommodates the volume changes. Due to the presence of an optimum amount of multivalent alloying metal ions (50-75% of total K+) in the M-Ti-niobate, an efficient alloying reaction takes place directly with ions and completely eliminates any form of mechanical degradation of the electroactive particles. The M-Ti-niobate can be cycled over a wide voltage range (as low as 0.01V) and displays remarkably stable Li+ and Na+ ion cyclability (>2 Li+/Na+ per formula unit) for widely varying current densities over few hundreds to thousands of successive cycles. The simultaneous intercalation and alloying storage mechanisms is also studied within the density functional theory (DFT) framework. DFT expectedly shows a very small variation in the volume of Al-titanium niobate following lithium alloying. Moreover, the theoretical investigations also conclusively support the occurrence of the alloying process of Li ions with the Al ions along with the intercalation process during discharge. The M-Ti-niobates studied here demonstrate a paradigm shift in chemical design of electrodes and will pave the way for the development of a multitude of improved electrodes for different battery chemistries.
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| 9. |
- Forero-Saboya, Juan, et al.
(författare)
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Cation Solvation and Physicochemical Properties of Ca Battery Electrolytes
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Physical Chemistry C. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1932-7447 .- 1932-7455. ; 123:59, s. 29524-29532
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Divalent-cation-based batteries are being considered as potential high energy density storage devices. The optimization of electrolytes for these technologies is, however, still largely lacking. Recent demonstration of the feasibility of Ca and Mg plating and stripping in the presence of a passivation layer or an artificial interphase has paved the way for more diverse electrolyte formulations. Here, we exhaustively evaluate several Ca-based electrolytes with different salts, solvents, and concentrations, via measuring physicochemical properties and using vibrational spectroscopy. Some comparisons with Mg- and Li-based electrolytes are made to highlight the unique properties of the Ca2+ cation. The Ca-salt solubility is found to be a major issue, calling for development of new highly dissociative salts. Nonetheless, reasonable salt solubility and dissociation are achieved using bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (TFSI), BF4, and triflate anion based electrolytes and high-permittivity solvents, such as ethylene carbonate (EC), propylene carbonate (PC), γ-butyrolactone (gBL), and N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF). The local Ca2+ coordination is concentration-dependent and rather complex, possibly involving bidentate coordination and participation of the nitrogen atom of DMF. The ionicity and the degree of ion-pair formation are both investigated and found to be strongly dependent on the nature of the cation, solvent donicity, and salt concentration. The large ion-ion interaction energies of the contact ion pairs, confirmed by density functional theory (DFT) calculations, are expected to play a major role in the interfacial processes, and thus, we here provide electrolyte design strategies to engineer the cation solvation and possibly improve the power performance of divalent battery systems.
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| 10. |
- Jena, Naresh K., et al.
(författare)
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Borophane as a Benchmate of Graphene : A Potential 2D Material for Anode of Li and Na-Ion Batteries
- 2017
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Ingår i: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1944-8244 .- 1944-8252. ; 9:19, s. 16148-16158
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Borophene, single atomic-layer sheet of boron (Science 2015, 350, 1513), is a rather new entrant into the burgeoning class of 2D materials. Borophene exhibits anisotropic metallic properties whereas its hydrogenated counterpart borophane is reported to be a gapless Dirac material lying on the same bench with the celebrated graphene. Interestingly, this transition of borophane also rendered stability to it considering the fact that borophene was synthesized under ultrahigh vacuum conditions on a metallic (Ag) substrate. On the basis of first-principles density functional theory computations, we have investigated the possibilities of borophane as a potential Li/Na-ion battery anode material. We obtained a binding energy of -2.58 (-1.08 eV) eV for Li (Na)-adatom on borophane and Bader charge analysis revealed that Li(Na) atom exists in Li+(Na+) state. Further, on binding with Li/Na, borophane exhibited metallic properties as evidenced by the electronic band structure. We found that diffusion pathways for Li/Na on the borophane surface are anisotropic with x direction being the favorable one with a barrier of 0.27 and 0.09 eV, respectively. While assessing the Li-ion anode performance, we estimated that the maximum Li content is Li0.445B2H2, which gives rises to a material with a maximum theoretical specific capacity of 504 mAh/g together with an average voltage of 0.43 V versus Li/Li+. Likewise, for Na-ion the maximum theoretical capacity and average voltage were estimated to be 504 mAh/g and 0.03 V versus Na/Na+, respectively. These findings unambiguously suggest that borophane can be a potential addition to the map of Li and Na-ion anode materials and can rival some of the recently reported 2D materials including graphene.
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