Abstract
Nanocomposites of ordered mesoporous carbon associated with chromium nitride (CrN) or vanadium nitride (VN) nanoparticles were obtained by a simple one-pot synthesis based on the solvent evaporation induced self-assembly (EISA) process using Pluronic triblock surfactant as soft-template and a phenol-based resin (resol) as carbon precursor. These nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen physisorption and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) techniques. Electron tomography (or 3D-TEM) technique was particularly useful for providing direct insight on the internal architecture of C/CrN nanocomposite. Nanocomposites showed a very well organized hexagonal mesoporous carbon structure and a relatively high concentration of nanoparticles well distributed in the porous network. The chromium and vanadium nitrides/mesoporous carbon nanocomposites could have many potential applications in catalysis, Li-ion batteries, and supercapacitors.
Highlights
Transition metal nitrides (TMN) are very promising materials for various applications such as hard coating, catalysis, energy storage (Li-based batteries and supercapacitors) and solar cells
The aim of this study is to demonstrate the versatility of the one-pot soft-template synthesis for the preparation of other
X-ray Diffraction (XRD) studies (Figure 1A) on FDU-15/CrN samples showed in the case of a nitridation temperature of 700 ̋ C a poorly resolved pattern with three very large peaks that correspond to chromium nitride phase CrN
Summary
Transition metal nitrides (TMN) are very promising materials for various applications such as hard coating, catalysis, energy storage (Li-based batteries and supercapacitors) and solar cells. For the energy storage applications in Li-ion batteries for instance, the presence of dispersed nanoparticles promotes charge transfers of electrons or lithium ions [14] and extends the electrode lifespan [15] by limiting the volume variations of the electrode during lithium insertion/extraction cycles. The dispersion of these nanoparticles is achieved by using an adequate media that can provide other interesting functionalities such as high surface specific area, porosity (confinement) and electrical conductivity
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