Precisely Engineered Colloidal Nanoparticles and Nanocrystals for Li-Ion and Na-Ion Batteries: Model Systems or Practical Solutions?

Abstract

In recent years, the search for new electrode materials for rechargeable Li-ion batteries has undergone a drastic shift toward nanomaterials. A similar tendency is expected to occur for the conceptually similar Na-ion batteries. Due to very short internal diffusion paths, nanoscale materials are far less limited by their ionic or electronic conductivities than their bulk counterparts. Nanomaterials can also withstand much greater mechanical deformation during charge/discharge cycling. Overall, these favorable effects significantly enlarge the variety of inorganic compounds that can be used as Li and Na ion storage media. Herein, we discuss the perspectives of a specific family of nanomaterialsmonodisperse colloidal nanocrystals and nanoparticlesfor controlling and studying the effects of size, composition, and morphology on electrochemical properties. Despite clear scientific advantages, commercialization of such nanomaterials is presently hampered by their high cost of synthesis, owing to the use of organic solvents and coordination compounds.

Colloidal Magnetic Heterostructured Nanocrystals with Asymmetric Topologies: Seeded-Growth Synthetic Routes and Formation Mechanisms

“…In such systems an inner NC "core" is evenly enwrapped within a "shell" made of one or more layers of other materials, which ultimately governs or mediates MHNC interactions with the external environment. Semiconductors, metals, and oxides arranged in centrosymmetric onionlike or eccentric core@shell configurations share large connecting heterointerfaces, across which direct electronic communication and hybridization may lead not only to chemical-physical properties distinct from those inherent to the individual components (e.g., increased photoluminescence, emission over spectral ranges prohibited to the individual material components alone, enhanced or modified LSPR absorption, increased magnetic anisotropy, enhanced ionintercalation capabilities, and unexpected catalytic activity), but also to exchange interactions of non-homologous properties (e.g., exciton-LSPR coupling, exchange coupling between different magnetic phases), depending on the specific material association (Casavola et al, 2008;Carbone and Cozzoli, 2010;Talapin et al, 2010;Ghosh Chaudhuri and Paria, 2011;Lee and Cho, 2011;Liu et al, 2011;Su et al, 2011;Chatterjee et al, 2014;Melinon et al, 2014;Oszajca et al, 2014;Purbia and Paria, 2015).…”

“…In the realm of nanomaterials, colloidal inorganic nanocrystals (NCs), solution free-standing crystalline nanoparticles entirely synthesized and processable in liquid media, have now raised to the rank of model systems for assessing the foundations of the physical-chemical laws of nanoscale matter owing to the precision and flexibility with which their crystal habit, shape, dimensions, and surface moieties can be tailored in the preparation stage (Burda et al, 2005;Cozzoli et al, 2006;Cozzoli, 2008;Baghbanzadeh et al, 2011). In addition, NCs are robust and versatile enough to be exploited as key active elements in artificial mesoscopic materials, innovative processes, and devices of great fundamental and practical significance for optoelectronics (Talapin et al, 2010;Vanmaekelbergh, 2011), catalysis (Chng et al, 2013;Vaneski et al, 2014;Xu et al, 2016), energy conversion (Carey et al, 2015;Xu et al, 2016) and storage (Frey et al, 2009;Niederberger and Pinna, 2009;Lee and Cho, 2011;Oszajca et al, 2014), sensing (Freeman and Willner, 2012;Palui et al, 2015), environmental remediation (Tong et al, 2012;Wilker et al, 2012;Rawalekar and Mokari, 2013), and biomedicine (Parak et al, 2003;Michalet et al, 2005;Palui et al, 2015).…”

Co3O4 Supraparticle‐Based Bubble Nanofiber and Bubble Nanosheet with Remarkable Electrochemical Performance

“…[29] Herein, selfassembly of polydopamine (PDA) was used to boost a simple and scalable fabrication for the bubble-nanofiber-structured and bubble-nanosheet-structured Co 3 O 4 supraparticle composites. [29] Herein, selfassembly of polydopamine (PDA) was used to boost a simple and scalable fabrication for the bubble-nanofiber-structured and bubble-nanosheet-structured Co 3 O 4 supraparticle composites.…”

Zn2GeO4 and Zn2SnO4 nanowires for high-capacity lithium- and sodium-ion batteries

“…The higher capacity of Sn has brought more research compared to Ge compounds by utilizing the carbon composites or alloys. [45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55] In this work, we examine the cycling performance of Zn 2 GeO 4 and Zn 2 SnO 4 NWs as anode materials in SIBs. To the best of our knowledge, the cycling performance of SIBs has not been reported for these compounds.…”

“…The comparative studies for LIBs and SIBs would provide a better understanding of the electrochemical reactions that occur at the electrodes. 47,51,55 …”