(Invited) Novel Design & Synthesis of Carbon for Lithium-Ion Batteries and Beyond

Abstract

The main goal of this research is to produce key fundamental understanding of how the bonding in carbon electrodes can be used to tailor ion transport, and how this correlates to the formation of SEIs that define the energy storage limits for next-generation batteries. We will address by tailoring electrode chemistry to control ion transport in the bulk and across the electrode-electrolyte interface. Theoretical calculations suggest that the interlayer distance of graphite as anodes is too small to accommodate the large Na+ ion, and an interlayer distance of > 0.37 nm is believed to be good for Na+ insertion. Detailed understanding of the morphologically tailored pyrolysis-recovered carbon is required to improve properties. The tailored morphology of the tire-derived carbon using a sulfonation process followed by pyrolysis yielded a high-quality carbon and the applicability of these hard carbons was demonstrated in several energy storage systems including lithium-ion batteries, sodium-ion batteries, and potassium-ion batteries. We will report on our recent neutron studies on the surface chemistry of the carbon material, vibrational spectroscopy of the molecular structure, chemical bonding such as C-H bonding, and intermolecular interactions of the carbon materials. In addition, we will also report our recent success with tire-derived carbon with either tin oxide or antimony/antimony oxide based composites as a low-cost, environmentally benign, and high capacity anode material for energy storage applications. Acknowledgements This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division.