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14 Dec 13:51

Superior potassium storage in chitin-derived natural nitrogen-doped carbon nanofibers

Publication date: March 2018
Source:Carbon, Volume 128
Author(s): Rui Hao, Hao Lan, Chengwei Kuang, Hua Wang, Lin Guo
Potassium ion batteries (KIBs) are drawing intensive attention as the next-generation energy storage technology, owning to their similar electrochemical properties to lithium system and rich abundance of potassium resources. The carbonaceous materials with low cost, nontoxicity and high safety have been considered as promising candidates for KIBs anodes. However, they still suffer from several problems, such as poor cycling and rate capability, complex activation process steps and multiple procedures to import heteroatoms doping. Herein, the N-doped carbon nanofibers (NCFs) are fabricated by direct pyrolysis of bio-waste chitin, which is the second most abundant biopolymer throughout nature. The as-prepared NCFs used as KIBs anodes, without any additional activation steps, are systematically investigated for the first time. They deliver high capacity, excellent rate capability and long-term cycling stability, which benefit from the multiple synergistic effects of suitable interlayer spacing, heteroatom doping and unique one dimensional mesoporous structure. With the spotlight of environmental friendliness, low cost and high energy density in energy storage field, the chitin-based NCFs demonstrate great potential for future low-cost energy storage applications.

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28 Aug 07:44

Graphene–Graphene Oxide Floating Gate Transistor Memory

by Sukjae Jang, Euyheon Hwang, Jung Heon Lee, Ho Seok Park, Jeong Ho Cho

A novel transparent, flexible, graphene channel floating-gate transistor memory (FGTM) device is fabricated using a graphene oxide (GO) charge trapping layer on a plastic substrate. The GO layer, which bears ammonium groups (NH3+), is prepared at the interface between the crosslinked PVP (cPVP) tunneling dielectric and the Al2O3 blocking dielectric layers. Important design rules are proposed for a high-performance graphene memory device: i) precise doping of the graphene channel, and ii) chemical functionalization of the GO charge trapping layer. How to control memory characteristics by graphene doping is systematically explained, and the optimal conditions for the best performance of the memory devices are found. Note that precise control over the doping of the graphene channel maximizes the conductance difference at a zero gate voltage, which reduces the device power consumption. The proposed optimization via graphene doping can be applied to any graphene channel transistor-type memory device. Additionally, the positively charged GO (GO–NH3+) interacts electrostatically with hydroxyl groups of both UV-treated Al2O3 and PVP layers, which enhances the interfacial adhesion, and thus the mechanical stability of the device during bending. The resulting graphene–graphene oxide FGTMs exhibit excellent memory characteristics, including a large memory window (11.7 V), fast switching speed (1 μs), cyclic endurance (200 cycles), stable retention (105 s), and good mechanical stability (1000 cycles).

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A transparent, flexible, graphene channel floating-gate transistor memory (FGTM) device is developed by combining a single-layer graphene active channel with graphene oxide (GO) charge trap elements. The application of positively charged GO (GO–NH3 +) and precise control of n-doping in the graphene channel dramatically enhance the electrical performance and mechanical stability of the memory device.

13 Aug 19:28

Electronic Property Modification of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes by Encapsulation of Sulfur-Terminated Graphene Nanoribbons

by Andrew Pollack, Sufian Alnemrat, Thomas W. Chamberlain, Andrei N. Khlobystov, Joseph P. Hooper, Sebastian Osswald

The use of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as cylindrical reactor vessels has become a viable means for synthesizing graphene nanoribbons (GNRs). While previous studies demonstrated that the size and edge structure of the as-produced GNRs are strongly dependent on the diameter of the tubes and the nature of the precursor, the atomic interactions between GNRs and surrounding CNTs and their effect on the electronic properties of the overall system are not well understood. Here, it is shown that the functional terminations of the GNR edges can have a strong influence on the electronic structure of the system. Analysis of SWCNTs before and after the insertion of sulfur-terminated GNRs suggests a metallization of the majority of semiconducting SWCNTs. This is indicated by changes in the radial breathing modes and the D and G band Raman features, as well as UV–vis–NIR absorption spectra. The variation in resonance conditions of the nanotubes following GNR insertion make direct (n,m) assignment by Raman spectroscopy difficult. Thus, density functional theory calculations of representative GNR/SWCNT systems are performed. The results confirm significant changes in the band structure, including the development of a metallic state in the semiconducting SWCNTs due to sulfur/tube interactions. The GNR-induced metallization of semiconducting SWCNTs may offer a means of controlling the electronic properties of bulk CNT samples and eliminate the need for a physical separation of semiconducting and metallic tubes.

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The use of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) as cylindrical reactor vessels has become a viable means for synthesizing graphene nanoribbons (GNRs). However, the nature of the termination of GNR edges can strongly affect the electronic structure. Raman spectroscopy and DFT calculations show that the insertion of sulfur-terminated GNRs into SWCNTs leads to a metallization of the semiconducting tubes.