Huan PangXiaoyu CaoLimin ZhuMingbo Zheng

Synthesis of Functional Nanomaterials for Electrochemical Energy Storage

Synthesis of Functional Nanomaterialsfor Electrochemical Energy Storage

Huan Pang • Xiaoyu Cao •

Limin Zhu • Mingbo Zheng

Synthesis of FunctionalNanomaterialsfor Electrochemical EnergyStorage

123

Huan PangSchool of Chemistry and ChemicalEngineeringYangzhou UniversityYangzhou, Jiangsu, China

Limin ZhuSchool of Chemistry and ChemicalEngineeringHenan University of TechnologyZhengzhou, Henan, China

Xiaoyu CaoSchool of Chemistry and ChemicalEngineeringHenan University of TechnologyZhengzhou, Henan, China

Mingbo ZhengSchool of Chemistry and ChemicalEngineeringYangzhou UniversityYangzhou, Jiangsu, China

ISBN 978-981-13-7371-8 ISBN 978-981-13-7372-5 (eBook)https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7372-5

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Contents

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

2 Synthesis of Quantum Dots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132.1 Carbonaceous Quantum Dots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

2.1.1 Top-Down Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142.1.2 Bottom-Up Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172.1.3 Synthetic or Post-synthetic Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

2.2 Metal/Metal Oxides Quantum Dots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202.2.1 Microwave Irradiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202.2.2 Heat Reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202.2.3 Hydrothermal Reaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

2.3 Nonmetallic Quantum Dots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222.3.1 Mechanical Crushing Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222.3.2 Oxidant-Triggered Exfoliation Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232.3.3 Concentration Gradient Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

3 Synthesis of One-Dimensional Nanomaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313.1 Metal Oxides/Sulfides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

3.1.1 Vapor-Phase Fabrication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323.1.2 Templated Growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363.1.3 Liquid Phase Synthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403.1.4 Other Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

3.2 Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453.2.1 One-Dimensional Graphene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453.2.2 Carbon Nanotubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

v

4 Synthesis of Two-Dimensional (2D) Nanomaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554.1 2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

4.1.1 MoS2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554.1.2 MoSe2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574.1.3 WS2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

4.2 2D Transition Metal Oxides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594.2.1 Co3O4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594.2.2 MnOx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614.2.3 Fe3O4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 624.2.4 Mixed Oxide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

4.3 2D Transition Metal Hydroxides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 664.4 MXenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

4.4.1 Transition Metal Carbides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 684.4.2 Transition Metal Nitrides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 704.4.3 Transition Metal Carbonitrides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

4.5 Polymer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

5 Synthesis of Three-Dimensional Nanomaterials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 795.1 Chemical Precipitation Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 795.2 Sol-Gel Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 825.3 Hydrothermal Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 885.4 Solvothermal Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 905.5 Thermal Decomposition Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 955.6 Microemulsion Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 975.7 Chemical Vapor Deposition Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

6 Nanomaterials for Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1076.1 Lead-Acid Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

6.1.1 Lead-Acid Battery Classification, Structure,and Working Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

6.1.2 The Performance of Lead-Acid Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1096.1.3 Sealed Lead-Acid Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1106.1.4 Safety and Elimination Mechanism of Sealed

Lead-Acid Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1126.1.5 Research Progress of Sealed Lead-Acid Batteries . . . . . . . . 113

6.2 Lithium Batteries and Lithium-Ion Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1156.2.1 Lithium Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1156.2.2 Lithium-Ion Batteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1166.2.3 Electrolyte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1376.2.4 Separator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

6.3 The Theory and Research Progress of Sodium-Ion Batteries . . . . . 144

vi Contents

6.3.1 Cathode Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1446.3.2 Anode Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1496.3.3 Sodium-Ion Battery Electrolyte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

6.4 Metal-Air Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1556.4.1 Working Principle of Metal-Air Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1566.4.2 Electrolyte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1566.4.3 Cathode Component and Its Influence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1586.4.4 Advantages and Disadvantages of Metal-Air Batteries . . . . 1606.4.5 The Development of Metal-Air Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1616.4.6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

6.5 Lithium-Sulfur Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1686.5.1 Working Principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1696.5.2 Sulfur Electrode Reaction Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1706.5.3 Research Progress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1726.5.4 Cathode Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1726.5.5 Stability and Modification of Metal Lithium Negative

Electrode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1826.5.6 Electrolyte Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1846.5.7 Separator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

6.6 Summary and Outlook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

7 Nanomaterials for Supercapacitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1957.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1957.2 Double-Layer Capacitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

7.2.1 Activated Carbon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1977.2.2 Ordered Mesoporous Carbon Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1987.2.3 Carbon Nanotube for Supercapacitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1997.2.4 Graphene-Based Materials for Supercapacitor . . . . . . . . . . 200

7.3 Pseudocapacitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2017.3.1 Co3O4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2027.3.2 MnO2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2047.3.3 NiO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2057.3.4 Conductive Polymer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2087.3.5 MXene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

7.4 Hybrid Capacitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2127.4.1 Metal Oxide Cathode and Carbon Material

Anode/Metal Oxide Anode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2137.4.2 Li-Ion Hybrid Capacitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2147.4.3 Na-Ion Hybrid Capacitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

7.5 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

8 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Contents vii

Chapter 1Introduction

Human imagination and dreams often give rise to novel science and technology.As a frontier of twenty-first century, nanotechnology was born out of such dreams(Manoharan 2008). Nanotechnology is one of the critical technologies coveringvarious fields including physics, chemistry, materials science, engineering, biology,and evenmedicine (Jain and Jain 2017; Catherine andOlivier 2017). This technologyutilizes the unique electronic, optical, or mechanical properties of nanomaterialswhich cannot be achieved in their bulk counterparts (Choi et al. 2016; Zhang 2015;Tanaka and Chujo 2015). Nanomaterials are the core components of nanotechnologywhich are defined as the understanding and control of matter at dimensions between1 and 100 nm in principle (Murphy 2002).

Although human exposure to nanoparticles has taken place throughout humanhistory, the concept of “nanometer” was first proposed by Nobel Laureate RichardFeynman in his visionary lecture “There is plenty of room at the bottom inspiringthe concepts for the rapidly exploding research topic of nanotechnology”, in whichhe introduced the concept of manipulating matter at the atomic level. Since the term“nanotechnology” had not appeared on the horizon, Feynman said: “What I want totalk about is the problem of manipulating and controlling things on a small scale…What I have demonstrated is that there is room—that you can decrease the size ofthings in a practical way… I will not discuss how we are going to do it, but onlywhat is possible in principle… We are not doing it simply because we haven’t yetgotten around to it” (Feynman 2018). Decades later, scientists have realized thatthe manipulation atoms, molecules, and clusters on the surface are feasible, whilenew fundamental physics governs the properties of nano-objects. There are signifi-cant differences in the definition of nanomaterials between agencies (Boverhof et al.2015). According to ISO/TS 80,004, nanomaterials are defined as a “material withany external dimension in the nanoscale or having internal structure or surface struc-ture in the nanoscale”, while nanoscale is defined as the “length range approximatelyfrom 1 to 100 nm” (Hatto 2011). The European Commission adopted the followingdefinition of nanomaterials: “natural, incidental or manufactured material containingparticles, in an unbound state or as an aggregate or as an agglomerate and for 50% or

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020H. Pang et al., Synthesis of FunctionalNanomaterials for Electrochemical Energy Storage,https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7372-5_1

1

2 1 Introduction

more of the particles in the number size distribution, one ormore external dimensionsis in the size range 1–100 nm. In specific cases and where warranted by concernsfor the environment, health, safety, or competitiveness the number size distributionthreshold of 50%may be replaced by a threshold between 1 and 50%” (Commission2011).

The beginning of the twenty-first century has seen an increased interest in theemerging fields of modern nanoscience and nanotechnology (Kagan et al. 2016).Nanomaterials provide basic building blocks for the fabrication of various deviceswith desired functions and have become the foundation of remarkable industrialapplications with exponential growth (Min et al. 2015; Sun et al. 2015b; Stark et al.2015).Owing to their inherent shape effects and quantum size, they havemany impor-tant applications ranging from electronics, catalysis, information processing, opto-electronics, environmental science, biomedical science, energy storage, and manyother fields (Abe et al. 2016; Dutta and Datta 2014; Si et al. 2016; Candelaria et al.2012; Wu et al. 2009; Hochbaum and Yang 2009; Sichert et al. 2015).

With the recent development of nanotechnology, a new scientific field of mate-rials physics and chemistry emphasizing the rational synthesis of nanomaterials hasemerged (Lin et al. 2012). Functional nanomaterials are especially an attractivetopic because they enable the creation of materials with new or improved prop-erties by mixing multiple constituents and exploiting synergistic effects such aselectronic, optical, magnetic, catalytic properties or bioactivity, selective perme-ation, and adsorption (Gawande et al. 2016; Ouyang et al. 2015; Sampaio et al.2015; Perreault et al. 2015; Tao et al. 2014; Gai et al. 2018). With a special prop-erty or several remarkable functions, functional nanomaterials are a type of highadded-value materials possessing potential applications in various fields includingcatalysis, computing, photonics, energy, biology, and medicine (Rengan et al. 2015;Zhang and Lieber 2015; Carrow and Gaharwar 2015; Wei et al. 2017; Sobon 2015).

For example, functional nanomaterials have had an impact on medical devicessuch as drug delivery, systems diagnostic biosensors, and imaging probes (Biju2014; Kumar et al. 2015; Li et al. 2015). The emerging field of nanobiotechnologyholds the potential of revolutionizing biomedical and biology studies by employingnew nanomaterial-based tools for investigative, diagnostic, and therapeutic tech-niques (Biju 2014; Wang et al. 2017; Nazir et al. 2014). Scientists have made greatefforts in developing various kinds of nanomaterials and nanofabrication techniquesin recent years. Their unique optical, magnetic, and mechanical properties of func-tional nanomaterials offer new opportunities for investigating complicated biolog-ical processes, which are hard to study by traditional strategies, suggesting excitingavenues in biological and biomedical fields (Barkalina et al. 2014). Nanomaterialsprovide almost unlimited combinations of various compositions, sizes, dimensions,and shapes of materials, which can be tailored to couple different biomoleculesin order to develop nanoprobes with desired properties (Shao et al. 2015; Zhanget al. 2015b). Nanomaterials also have dramatical improvements in production andshelf-life in food and cosmetics industries (Ghaderi-Ghahfarokhi et al. 2017; Freweret al. 2014). Owing to the large surface area, they are expected to be more biolog-ically active than larger sized particles of the same chemical composition (Wang

1 Introduction 3

et al. 2016a). This offers several perspectives for food applications. For instance,nanoparticles could be utilized as bioactive compounds in functional foods. Bioactivecompounds found naturally in certain foods have physiological benefits and mighthelp to reduce the risk of certain diseases such as cancer (Ghorani and Tucker 2015;Kim et al. 2016). By reducing particle size, nanotechnology contributes to improvethe properties of bioactive compounds such as solubility, prolonged residence timeand delivery properties in the gastrointestinal tract and efficient absorption throughcells (Fabiano et al. 2015). More importantly, functional nanomaterials have openedup new frontiers in materials science and engineering to be an enabling technologyfor creating high-performance energy conversion and storage devices (Gao et al.2013; Dai et al. 2012).

The energy issue is one of the most significant topics during the twenty-firstcentury (Pfenninger et al. 2014). It is estimated that the world will need to double itsenergy supply by 2050 (Armaroli andBalzani 2007;Cook et al. 2010).An overdepen-dence on the non-renewable fossil fuels poses not only ecological problems but alsoserious and continuous impacts on the global society and economy (Asif andMuneer2007; Omer 2008). Increasing energy demand, reduction of fossil fuel reserves, andenvironmental pollution have promoted the research of efficient and low-emissionenergy conversion devices (Bromberg et al. 2001). The importance of developing newtypes of energy is evident from the fact that global energy consumption is acceleratingat an alarming rate due to the rapid economic growth on the global scale, the increaseof the world population, and the increasing dependence of mankind on energy equip-ment (Dincer 2000). For this purpose, advanced technologies for both energy conver-sion (e.g., solar cells and fuel cells) and storage (e.g., supercapacitors and batteries)have received extensive research around the world. Nanotechnology has openedup new areas in materials science and engineering to meet this challenge (Aricoet al. 2005). As with all other devices, the performance of energy-related devicesstrongly depends on the characteristics of the materials they utilize. Recent devel-opment in materials science, particularly nanomaterials, has facilitated the researchand development of energy technologies. Comparing to traditional energy materials,nanomaterials possess unique properties useful for enhancing the energy conversionand storage performances (Arico et al. 2005; Zhang et al. 2013). Nanomaterials haveattracted much attention in various energy devices including fuel cells, solar cells,light-emitting diodes, sensors, lithium-ion batteries, supercapacitors, thermoelectricdevices, and memory devices (Zhao et al. 2015; Wang et al. 2015; Sun et al. 2015a;Xing et al. 2016; Song et al. 2015; Zhu et al. 2014; Devi et al. 2015; Su et al. 2014;Wu et al. 2015; Peng et al. 2014; Chen and Dai 2014; Ortega et al. 2017; Tan et al.2015). As a very promising catalyst for oxygen reduction reactions (ORR), nano-materials are effective alternatives to Pt-based electrocatalysts in fuel cell systems(Zhang et al. 2015a; Ganesan et al. 2015). In recent years, nanomaterials have alsobeen actively researched as electrode materials in lithium-ion batteries and elec-trochemical supercapacitors (Hu et al. 2015; Mondal et al. 2015; Lu et al. 2017).The wide application of nanomaterials benefits from the progress in the synthesis ofnovel nanostructured materials with different sizes and various topographies. As thesize of nanomaterials is reduced to the nanometer scale, new chemical and physical

4 1 Introduction

properties have emerged due to the well-known quantum size effects (Zalfani et al.2016). In addition, nanomaterials can provide a larger specific surface area, whichis advantageous to energy devices compared with their bulk masses, as the reac-tion/interaction between the device and the interaction medium can be significantlyenhanced (Lü et al. 2014; Gao et al. 2013). As a result, people have made tremendousefforts to exploit the unique properties of nanomaterials and have made tremendousprogress in developing high-performance energy conversion and storage devices asshown in Fig. 1.1.

In the past two decades, there have been many scientific efforts devoted tothe design and preparation of nanomaterials with controlled morphology andtailored anisotropic nanostructures such as one-dimensional (1D) nanowires (NWs),nanorods (NRs), and nanotubes (NTs), two-dimensional (2D) nanoplates, and three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical structures have exhibited new fundamental (Shen et al.2017; Qu et al. 2018; Wu et al. 2017; Guo et al. 2017; Lee et al. 2017; Xin et al.2018). 0D structures have a short diffusion length and a minimal surface area, soagglomeration tends to occur during the cycle. 1D nanomaterials have attracted wideattention from the academic and industrial world due to their low cost, controllablesize, and large-scale manufacturing capabilities (Liu et al. 2014; Ma et al. 2016;Wang et al. 2018). These nanomaterials have a unique, versatile, tunable structurewith a nano interface, a high surface to volume ratio, and a large surface area, whichcan improve the performance of energy devices (Lin et al. 2017; Wei et al. 2017; Liet al. 2018). 1D structure has a fast electron transport in one dimension and a shortion diffusion length in the radial direction, but the static structure and fixed size limitthe non-adjustable specific surface area and porosity properties (Mao et al. 2018). Incontrast, 2D nanomaterials with high aspect ratios are very attractive materials forenergy storage applications due to their unique electronic, mechanical and opticalproperties, quantum confinement, large surface area, and surface orientation proper-ties (Wu et al. 2014; Peng et al. 2017). With the thickness of atoms or molecules andthe infinite plane length, 2D nanomaterials have different atomic structures from theirbulk counterparts including atomic arrangements, chemical valences, coordinationnumbers, and bond length differences. In addition, their more exposed internal atomsinevitably induce the formation of various defects, which will have a non-negligibleeffect on their chemical and physical properties. In fact, 2D nanomaterials haveshown fascinating properties in the energy storage field including good mechanicalflexibility, short ion diffusion length, and a large exposed surface electrochemicalprocess (Pomerantseva and Gogotsi 2017; Tan et al. 2017). In addition, 2D nano-materials have been extensively studied as active or supporting materials for variousenergy storage applications such as lithium ions, sodium ions, lithium sulfur, andmetal-air batteries (Ji et al. 2016; Agubra et al. 2016; Ji et al. 2011). In general,3D structures have the following advantages: (1) The large specific surface area ofnanoplatelets can bemaintained because the restacking of nanoplatelets is effectivelysuppressed. Therefore, a large number of electrochemically active sites are exposedto the electrolyte so that sufficient electrochemical reactions can be performed. (2) Inthe preparation of 3D structures, the use of nanosized 2D nanoplatelets as buildingblocks can result in a large number of pores or channels, thereby effectively reducing

1 Introduction 5

Fig. 1.1 Functional nanostructured materials for various high-performance energy conversion andstorage devices Reprinted from Ref. Shen et al. (2017), copyright 2017, with permission fromWILEY–VCH; reprinted from Ref. Qu et al. (2018), copyright 2018, with permission from TheRoyal Society of Chemistry; reprinted from Ref. Wu et al. (2017), copyright 2017, with permissionfrom American Chemical Society; reprinted from Ref. Guo et al. (2017), copyright 2017, withpermission from ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces; reprinted from Ref. Lee et al. (2017),copyright 2017, with permission from The Royal Society of Chemistry; reprinted from Ref. Xinet al. (2018), copyright 2018, with permission from The Royal Society of Chemistry; reprintedfrom Ref. Liu et al. (2014), copyright 2014, with permission from Macmillan Publishers Limited;reprinted from Ref. Ma et al. (2016), copyright 2016, with permission from Elsevier; reprinted fromRef. Wang et al. (2018), copyright 2018, with permission from The Royal Society of Chemistry

the distance of ions andmass transport. (3) Electron transfer is significantly enhancedsince the 3D structure is usually built directly on a conductive substrate or hybridizedwith a conductive material such as a carbonaceous material. Notably, compared with2D nanomaterials, 3D architectures have better processability due to the inhibitedaggregation (Zhang et al. 2017; Choi et al. 2012, 2015; Wang et al. 2016b; Chenet al. 2014; Zhao et al. 2013).

6 1 Introduction

It is very important to understand the basic anisotropic growth process of nano-materials, so rational and controlled synthesis can be rationally designed to preparenanostructures suitable for specific applications. A comprehensive book that summa-rizes the exciting work on controlled synthesis of functional nanomaterials for elec-trochemical energy storages is rarely found, which, however, is highly needed tofurther promote related research and development efforts to solve the energy issueswe are now facing. The goal of this review is to illustrate the recent advance of thisfield by investigating the inherent physical and chemical properties of these func-tional nanomaterials and concluding the specific advantages and potentials of thesematerials. The literature has been organized depending on the structural dimen-sions and then following a materials’ classification of the nano-objects involvessuch as quantum dots (e.g., carbon quantum dots, metal-nonmetal quantum dots,other quantum dots), one-dimensional nanomaterials (e.g., one-dimensional metaloxide/sulfide), two-dimensional nanomaterials (e.g., typical materials with two-dimensional nanomaterials), three-dimensional nanomaterials (e.g., typicalmaterialswith three-dimensional nanomaterials) and superstructure nanomaterials. Based onthe potential advantages of these nanomaterials, their different promising applica-tions in the field of energy conversion and storage especially batteries (e.g., lead-acidbatteries, lithiumbattery and lithium-ion batteries, sodium ion battery and othermetalion batteries, halogen ion batteries metal-gas batteries and others) and supercapaci-tors (e.g., double-layer capacitor, qseudocapacitor, hybrid capacitor) are discussed,which mainly focus on the preparation methods, properties, and performances offunctional nanomaterials, and some formation mechanisms of specific functionalmaterials. In the last section “Conclusions and outlook”, we propose the potentialdevelopments in the field of functional nanomaterials for electrochemical energystorages. A brief discussion on the major opportunities facing these functional nano-materials will be showed. Some concluding remarks will try to determine what couldbe the next challenges of this fascinating research area.

We hope that this book will constitute a useful tool for the non-specialized readerswho want to get an overview of the current trends related to functional nanomaterialsfor electrochemical energy storages, or for experts who want to look for a preciseentry in a particular domain of application. Because of the explosion of publicationsin this exciting and emerging field, we do not claim that this book includes all of thepublished work (especially the most recently published work). We apologize to theauthors of many outstanding research papers, that owing to the large activity in thisfield, we have unintentionally left out.

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Chapter 2Synthesis of Quantum Dots

When these bulk 2Dmaterials are converted into formswith lateral dimensions gener-ally smaller than 100 nm (typically < 10 nm), quantum dots (QDs) could be producedresulting from the strong quantum confinement. The rising graphene quantum dots(GQDs) and carbon dots (C-dots) have attracted considerable attention as a resultof their tremendous potentials in application of biomedicine, on account of theirsmall size and their excellent performance in terms of photoluminescence proper-ties, physicochemistry, photostability, and biocompatibility. The preparation of C-dots and GQDs could be roughly divided into two categories: “top-down” methodand “bottom-up” method.

2.1 Carbonaceous Quantum Dots

The great success achieved so far in graphene materials is triggering immense enthu-siasm for exploring two-dimensional (2D) layered inorganicmaterials such as hexag-onal boron nitride (h-BN), (Li et al. 2015; Lei et al. 2015; Bonaccorso et al. 2015)transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), (Kormányos et al. 2014; Zhou et al.2016) graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4), (Abdolmohammad-Zadeh and Rahimpour2016; Wang et al. 2014a) germanene (Wei et al. 2013) and silicene, (Xu et al. 2018)to meet new application requirements (Deng et al. 2016; Rao et al. 2013; Huanget al. 2014; Miró et al. 2014; Rim et al. 2016; Wang et al. 2017). When these bulk2Dmaterials are converted into forms with lateral dimensions generally smaller than100 nm (typically < 10 nm), quantum dots (QDs) could be produced resulting fromthe strong quantum confinement (Buzaglo et al. 2016; Liu et al. 2013). As earlyas 1988, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and tungsten disulfide (WS2) nanoclus-ters with particle sizes of 10–35 Å were made via cleavage of the van der Waalslayers of 2D bulk materials through penetrating solvent molecules (Peterson et al.1988). This stimulated researchers to explore new types of nanoclusters of graphene,

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020H. Pang et al., Synthesis of FunctionalNanomaterials for Electrochemical Energy Storage,https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7372-5_2

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14 2 Synthesis of Quantum Dots

(León and Pacheco 2011) h-BN, (Beheshtian et al. 2013) layered double hydrox-ides (LDHs), (Tokudome et al. 2016) molybdenum diselenide (MoSe2) and tungstendiselenide (WSe2), etc. (Huang and Kelley 2000). Such semiconductor nanoclustersrepresent clear quantum confinement effects, and thus are also classified as “QDs”(Mainwaring et al. 2006). The as-prepared QDs are usually regarded as zero dimen-sional (0D), however, they are just smaller forms of their native layered forms interms of the lateral length dimension. Their 2D lattices in the bulk form can be stillmaintained by a certain degree when they are exfoliated into the nanoscale. There-fore, herein, “2D-QDs” is reasonably used as an abbreviation for “QDs derived from2D inorganic materials” (Wang et al. 2016).

The burgeoning GQDs and C-dots have attained great attention due to their enor-mous development prospect with respect to biomedical applications. These illumi-nant carbonnanocrystals supply optical sensing andbiological imagingwith unprece-dented opportunities. Owing to their small dimension and great biocompatibility,they could also function as effective carriers in the application of drug deliverywhen allowing isochronous visual control of releasing dynamics. What’s more, theirdistinctive catalytic and physicochemical performance promise various applicationsin field of biomedicine. There have been already several preeminent review articlesin regard to syntheses, performance, and application prospect of C-dots (Baker andBaker 2010) and GQDs (Zhang et al. 2012b).

Meanwhile, preparation of C-dots and GQDs may be ordinarily split into “top-down” method and “bottom-up” method. The former involves making carbonaceousmaterials cut or broken down through some approaches on basis of chemistry, electro-chemistry, or physics. The latter is actualizedbymaking small organicmolecules ther-mally decomposed and carbonized or bymaking small aromatic molecules graduallychemically fused (Zheng et al. 2015).

2.1.1 Top-Down Method

Acidic Oxidation. Some methods have been extensively used to make C-dots andGQDs exfoliated from carbon fiber, carbon nanotube, (Tao et al. 2012) grapheneoxide (GO), (Wang et al. 2011) soot, (Liu et al. 2007) coal, (Ye et al. 2013) carbonblack, (Xia and Zheng 2012) and activated carbon, (Qiao et al. 2009) such as strongacid treatment. These methods are suitable for large-scale processable productionfrom easily accessible low-cost carbon source. When using these methods, it isunavoidable to introduce oxygenated groups with a negative charge on the resultantC-dots, which makes them defective in graphitic structure and hydrophilic. Oneproblem often met is that it is difficult to make excess oxidizing agent (e.g., HNO3)completely removed.

Hydrothermal or Solvothermal Synthesis. Hydrothermal synthesis quintessen-tially uses reducedGO (rGO) sheetsworking as the precursorswith a thermalmethod,and the precursors are heretofore treated with oxidizer (e.g., HNO3, O3), intro-ducing epoxy groups onto the carbon lattice and ascertaining the cutting sites. In

2.1 Carbonaceous Quantum Dots 15

hydrothermal circumstances, GQDs are ultimately synthesized via a method withchemical cutting and deoxidization in alkali medium (e.g., NaOH, NH3) (Pan et al.2010, 2012; Zhu et al. 2011; Shen et al. 2011). On the basis of GO sheets, Zhu et al.illustrated the first sonication combined with solvent thermal preparation of GQDs,with DMF acting as solvent. Because of superior edge influence and quantum restric-tion, GQDs own pronounced features of QDs and graphene (Chen et al. 2014; Dinariet al. 2015). Consequently, GQDs, with their simple synthesis routes and great elec-trochemical performance (Lowet al. 2013;Wanget al. 2014b).Chao et al. synthesizedthe graphene foam (GF) that are supported GQD and anchored it on VO2 array elec-trode, which was called GVG (Chao et al. 2015). The formation of the GVG is shownin Fig. 2.1b. The growth mechanism includes the self-assembly and crystallographicorientation processes. In the solvothermal reaction process, the VOC2O4 nucleateson the GF surface, and the particles bond with each other, reducing the overallenergy. Afterwards, a belt structure produced in the light of the strong anisotropyof monoclinic VO2 crystal. Eventually, two single belts combine together in orderto produce the intersected nanobelts structure according to the oriented attachmentmechanism. Park et al. (2016) reported that introducing the GQDs into the cathodedramatically improved sulfur/sulfide utilization, realizing high performance. Addi-tionally, theGQDs induced the integrity of sulfur-carbon electrode composite’s struc-ture through oxygen-enriched functional groups. The hierarchical architecture madecharge transfer fast when reducing the wastage of lithium polysulfides, on accountof the physicochemical performance of GQDs. The mechanism through which greatcycling and rate properties are obtained was completely studied by the analysis ofcapacity and voltage profiles. GQDs could be fabricated by an improved Hummers’method, and then GQD-S and GQD-S/Carbon Black (CB) could be obtained throughthe hydrothermal processes with simple hybrid. The TEM and scanning TEM imagesof nanosized sulfur on the GQD electrodes in the Li2S8 catholyte are shown inFig. 2.1b–e. GQDs tightly covered the nanosized sulfur particles’ surface, whichwas demonstrated through lattice fringes in corresponding with (111) planes.

ElectrochemicalExfoliation. GQDs andC-Dots can be prepared by electrochem-ical cutting of carbon precursors like carbon nanotubes, rGO film, graphite rods, and3-dimensional (3D) CVD-grown graphene. Meanwhile, it has been suggested thatOH· radical and O· radical formed on the basis of oxidation of water at the anodefunction as electrochemical “scissors” for the sake of the releasion ofGQDs orC-dots(Lu et al. 2009). Some corrosion processes could be started near the edges and spedup at defect sites. When using organic solvents, Ananthanarayanan et al. ascribedthe desquamation process to the capability of the electrolytic anion to insert betweengraphene layers and the electrical stress (Ananthanarayanan et al. 2014). Functionalgroups or heteroatoms can be adhibited or doped on the synthetic carbon nanodotslying on the used electrolyte (Li et al. 2012c). The abovementioned electrochemicalstrategy is uncomplicated (mainly one step) and usually of high yield.

Physical Routes. Microwave extraction provides rapid and even heating for thereaction medium, then considerably enhancing the reaction rate and making theproduct yields and quality better (Li et al. 2012a) Ultrasound may generate alternanthigh-pressure and low-pressure waves in fluid, resulting in the formation and severe

16 2 Synthesis of Quantum Dots

2.1 Carbonaceous Quantum Dots 17

�Fig. 2.1 Synthesis procedures of GF supported GQDs-coated VO2 nanobelts array. TEM andScanning TEM images of nanosized S on GQDs electrode in Li2S8 cathode electrolyte whencycling 20 cycles in the state of charged: a low and high magnification images of nanosulfurin GQD. Lumps represent nanosulfur-containing GQDs electrodes, and the small black particlesare nanosulfur, b GQDs coated on nanosulfur particles, d High-resolution transmission electronmicroscope (HRTEM) image displaying the lattice fringes of the nanosulfur as well as the GQDs,e The fast Fourier transform (FFT) of the initial HRTEM image is c in the middle of the filteredimage. The two bright spots indicate sulfur particles, and the other spots represent the GQDs latticeplane. a Reprinted from Ref. Chao et al. (2015), copyright 2014, with permission from AmericanChemical Society. b–e Reprinted from Ref. Park et al. (2016), copyright 2016, with permissionfrom Nature

collapse of little vacuum bubbles, which produce intense hydrodynamic shear forcesand high-speed liquid jets in order to decompose the carbon with layer structureinto GQDs (Tan et al. 2012). In recent, Prasad et al. prepared GQD-like quantumdots through the ultrasonic desquamation of polythiophene in DMF (Prasad et al.2014). Fascinatingly, these QDs don’t need to photobleach under consecutive laserirradiation. In the meantime, laser irradiation with high power can ablate carbonmaterials to obtain C-dots. Nevertheless, this method needs sophisticated equipment.

2.1.2 Bottom-Up Method

Stepwise Organic Synthesis. GQDs with well-defined monodispersed structurescan be synthesized by solution chemistry approach, despite with low-throughputand trouble to avoid aggregation aroused by π-π interaction. For example, Yanet al. revealed that aryl groups oxidative condensation of polyphenylene dendriticprecursor via stepwise solution chemistry brought about melt graphene moieties andultimate formation of GQDs including 168, 132, and 170 carbon atoms that areconjugated (Yan et al. 2010b) Covalent interaction between 2′, 4, 6′-trialkyl phenylgroups and the edges of graphene-based materials stabilizes GQDs in liquid. Morerecently, homogeneous GQDs (with different dimensions and different colors) couldbe produced, with unsubstituted hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene acting as precursor(Liu et al. 2011).

Pyrolysis or Carbonization of Organic Precursors. It has been extensivelyreported that C-dots and GQDs can be synthetized via thermally decompose orcarbonize small organic molecules. With small organic molecules heated above theirsmelting point, they condensate, nucleate, and subsequently form larger C-dots orGQDs. The used precursors contain organic salts (e.g., diethylene glycolammoniumcitrate or octadecylammonium citrate), (Bourlinos et al. 2008) coffee grounds, (Hsuet al. 2012) glycerol, (Lai et al. 2012) l-glutamic acid, (Wu et al. 2013) ascorbic acid,(Jia et al. 2012) citric acid, (Dong et al. 2012a; Ju and Chen 2014) and ethylene-diaminetetraacetic acid disodium salt (EDTA-2Na) (Deng et al. 2013). Other than