Sodium-ion batteries are promising
futuristic large-scale energy-storage
devices because of the abundance and low cost of sodium. However,
the development and commercialization of the sodium-ion battery solely
depends on the use of high-capacity electrode materials. Among the
various metal oxides, SnO
2
has a high theoretical specific
capacity for sodium-ion battery. However, the enormous volume expansion
and low electrical conductivity of SnO
2
hinder its capability
to reach the predicted theoretical value. Although different nanostructured
designs of electrode materials like SnO
2
nanocomposites
have been studied, the effects of other cell components like electrolyte
and binder on the specific capacity and cyclic stability are yet to
be understood. In the present study, we have investigated the synergistic
effect of electrolyte and binder on the performance enhancement of
SnO
2
supported on the intertwined network structure of
reduced graphene oxide partially open multiwalled carbon nanotube
hybrid as anode in sodium-ion battery. Our result shows that sodium
carboxyl methyl cellulose and ethylene carbonate/diethyl carbonate
as the electrolyte solvent offers a high specific capacity of 688
mAh g
–1
and a satisfactory cyclic stability for
500 cycles. This is about 56% enhancement in specific capacity compared
to the use of poly(vinylidene fluoride) binder and propylene carbonate
as the electrolyte solvent. The present study provides a better understanding
of the synergistic role of electrolyte and binder for the development
of metal-oxide-based electrode materials for the advancement of the
commercialization of sodium-ion battery.
Direct absorption solar collectors (DASC) convert solar energy into heat energy and transfer this heat energy to a carrier fluid. Numerical and experimental studies have shown that replacing the absorber medium with nanofluids in DASC increases the efficiency of solar collector significantly. Present work investigates the dispersion stability, optical and thermal properties of reduced few-layered graphene oxide (rGO) dispersed nanofluids for DASC. The synthesis of rGO was carried out by hydrogen exfoliation of graphene oxide at 200 °C. As-synthesized rGO was suitably functionalized to impart the hydrophilic nature. Different characterization techniques were employed to analyze the surface morphology of the sample. Nanofluids were prepared by dispersing calculated amount of functionalized rGO in DI water and ethylene glycol. Optical properties study reveals that the nanofluids exhibit good absorption ability over base fluids. The extinction coefficient of nanofluids showed significant improvement even at low concentration. Furthermore, the temperature dependent thermal conductivity study with different volume fractions, carried out for DI water and ethylene glycol-based nanofluids, shows considerable enhancement.
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