Electrodes For Energy Storage Research Articles

Scaling to practical pouch cell supercapacitor: Electrodes by electrophoretic deposition

The scale-up of supercapacitors by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) from coin cell to pouch cell with commercially relevant mass loadings and thicknesses is reported. The use of EPD in electrode fabrication mainly reduces the interfacial resistance and increases the mechanical flexibility of the electrodes. The cycling performance or conversion efficiency can also be improved due to the highly porous EPD coatings. An exemplary investigation of activated carbon (AC) electrodes with an electrolyte comprising of tetraethylammonium tetrafluoroborate in acetonitrile is carried out. According to the general literature, EPD of AC on metal substrates has not performed well for supercapacitor electrodes unless they were thinner and with lower mass loadings than commercial requirements. As a consequence, and to redress this research gap, all the electrodes prepared in this work demonstrate high mass loadings (8 mg cm−2) and practical layer thicknesses (125 µm) and contain polyvinylidene fluoride binders with electrically conductive carbon black particles. Research investigations include: (a) impact of EPD of AC onto small (10 cm2) and large areas (50 cm2) of aluminum foil current collectors, (b) scaling-up of coin to pouch cells, and (c) the preparation of electrode coatings on both sides of the current collector for the first time using EPD for pouch cell investigations. Our research learning shows the evidence of practical cell performance, including current loading (40 A g−1), tens of thousands of successive charge and discharge operation (150,000 cycles), power (30 kW kg−1) and energy densities (10 W h kg−1), capacitance (154 F g−1), capacitance retention (80%) and coulombic efficiency (relatively close to 100%). Based upon the success of the pouch cells investigated in this work, further research studies on the use of EPD for preparing energy storage electrodes for commercial cylindrical types of supercapacitors is envisaged.

Heterointerfaces: Unlocking Superior Capacity and Rapid Mass Transfer Dynamics in Energy Storage Electrodes.

Heterogeneous electrode materials possess abundant heterointerfaces with a localized "space charge effect", which enhances capacity output and accelerates mass/charge transfer dynamics in energy storage devices (ESDs). These promising features open new possibilities for demanding applications such as electric vehicles, grid energy storage, and portable electronics. However, the fundamental principles and working mechanisms that govern heterointerfaces are not yet fully understood, impeding the rational design of electrode materials. In this study, the heterointerface evolution during charging and discharging process as well as the intricate interaction between heterointerfaces and charge/mass transport phenomena, is systematically discussed. Guidelines along with feasible strategies for engineering structural heterointerfaces to address specific challenges encountered in various application scenarios, are also provided. This review offers innovative solutions for the development of heterogeneous electrode materials, enabling more efficient energy storage beyond conventional electrochemistry. Furthermore, it provides fresh insights into the advancement of clean energy conversion and storage technologies. This review contributes to the knowledge and understanding of heterointerfaces, paving the way for the design and optimization of next-generation energy storage materials for a sustainable future.

Enhancing Capacitance of Carbon Cloth Electrodes via Highly Conformal PEDOT Coating Fabricated by the OCVD Method Utilizing SbCl5 Oxidant

AbstractCarbon cloth shows potential for flexible energy storage electrodes but encounters challenges such as low specific capacitance and limited wettability. This study addresses these limitations by fabricating a highly conformal coating of poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) around 3D carbon fibers via the oxidative chemical vapor deposition (oCVD) method, employing antimony pentachloride (SbCl5) as the oxidant. The oCVD stands out as a robust manufacturing technique for fabricating highly conformal conducting polymer films on porous structures, ensuring the preservation of geometric features and the maintenance of active sites for redox reactions. The resulting PEDOT‐coated carbon cloth electrodes exhibit improved pseudocapacitance and specific capacitance compared to their pristine counterparts. Particularly, oCVD PEDOT‐coated carbon cloth fabricated at various deposition temperatures exhibit a substantial 1.5‐ to 2.3‐fold enhancement in specific capacitance compared to pristine carbon cloth. The highest specific capacitance (170.94 F g⁻¹) is attained in the oCVD PEDOT‐coated carbon cloth fabricated at a deposition temperature of 80 °C, representing a 2.3‐fold enhancement over its pristine counterpart. The PEDOT‐coated carbon cloths demonstrate lower charge transfer resistance compared to their pristine counterparts, further confirming their superior electrochemical performance. This investigation highlights oCVD's effectiveness in fabricating highly conformal PEDOT coating on carbon cloth electrodes for electrochemical energy storage devices.

Heteroatom(S) (N, S, P) Co‐Doped Reduced Graphene Oxide‐Based Binder‐Free Novel Energy Storage Electrode Material for High Energy Density Supercapacitor

AbstractThis manuscript reports a one‐pot synthesis of ternary heteroatoms (N/S/P) co‐doped reduced graphene oxide as an electrode material by simultaneous reduction/doping of/into graphene oxide employing eco‐friendly natural molecule(s) (thiamine monophosphate (TM) and thiamine pyrophosphate (TP)) under mild heating (≤60 °C) and near‐neutral pH (≤8) conditions. It produces N, S, P co‐doped rGO‐TM and N, S, P co‐doped rGO‐TP nanohybrids displaying a well‐connected porous microstructure with significantly doped atomic(%) ‐N (10.0%), S (4.1%), P (0.1%) and N (6.7%), S (2.0%), and P (0.5%), respectively. The symmetric supercapacitor designed using N, S, P‐rGO‐TM‐10 in water‐in‐salt 17 m NaClO4 electrolyte exhibits stable cell voltage of 3.0 V, superb gravimetric energy density (areal energy density) of 47.9 Wh kg−1@522.8 W g−1 (0.2363 Wh cm−2@ 2.5 W cm−2); the excellent cyclic stability (88.8 %) and Coulombic efficiency (99.2%) even after 20 000 cycles. Their energy storage capability is corroborated by the illumination of 109 white LEDs upon lighting a single SSC for 50 s each, driving a motor to run a fan, and forming the tandem device by joining three such cells in series.

Modulating charge storage mechanism of cobalt-tungsten nitride electrodes using in situ formed metal-p-n heterojunction for ultrahigh energy density supercapattery

Supercapatteries combine both diffusion-controlled and capacitive charge storage mechanisms to simultaneously deliver exceptional power density and energy density. Though developing materials that combine both charge storage mechanisms for use as supercapattery electrodes is difficult, one solution has been to modify a material that inherently has one of these mechanisms so that it also exhibits the other form of charge storage. In the present study, we modulate the electrochemical reconstruction of a W5N4 electrode to modify its charge storage from pure battery-type to pseudocapacitive, thus enhancing its specific capacity and cyclic stability. This modulation was carried out by embedding Co in W5N4 (Co-W5N4), leading to the formation of W and N-doped Co(OH)2 as an active phase and producing a high specific capacity of 2211 C g−1 at 2 A g−1. The incorporation of a thin layer of TiO2 (Co-W5N4/TiO2) through atomic layer deposition minimized tungsten dissolution during reconstruction, thus generating in-situ a dynamic metal–p-n junction heterostructure (Co-W5N4||Co(OH)2||TiO2) that modulated the charge flow, achieving high-rate capability (retaining 53.1 % at 50 A g−1 compared to 2 A g−1) and cyclic stability (82.8 % after 100,000 cycles at a high current density of 40 A g−1). As illustrated by operando electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and physicochemical analysis, the dynamic response of metal–p-n junction sustains the pseudocapacitive charge storage mechanism at high current rate. This study thus demonstrates the formation of metal-p-n heterojunction and describes its dynamic response under actual charge/discharge operating conditions, providing useful information for the design of energy storage electrodes and energy conversion catalysts.

Regulating intramolecular hydrogen bonds of p-phenylenediimidazole-based small-molecule compounds towards the enhanced lithium storage capacity

The use of redox-active organic electrode materials in energy storage is restricted due to their inferior solvent resistance, abysmal conductivity, and the resultant low practical capacity. To address these issues, a class of bipolar p-phenylenediimidazole-based small-molecule compounds are designed and fabricated. The π-conjugated backbone of these small molecules allows for electron delocalization on a big conjugation plane, endowing them with good conductivity and reaction reversibility. Furthermore, when the para-positions of phenylene are occupied by hydroxyl groups, as-formed intramolecular hydrogen bonds (N–H…O) between phenolic hydroxyl groups and the –NH groups of imidazole rings further enhance the structural planarity, resulting in higher π-conjugation degree and better conductivity, and thus higher utilization of active sites and electrode capacity, proved by both experimental results and theoretical calculations. The optimized composite electrode DBNQ@rGO-45 shows a high specific capacity (∼308 mA h g−1 at 100 mA g−1) and a long cycling stability (112.9 mA h g−1 after 6000 cycles at 2000 mA g−1). The significantly better electrochemical properties for hydroxyl group-containing compounds than those without hydroxyl groups attributed to intramolecular hydrogen bond-induced conjugation enhancement will inspire the structure design of organic electrodes for better energy storage.

Layer-by-layer assembling redox wood electrodes for efficient energy storage

The exploration of redox-active organic materials and low tortuous thick-electrodes is attractive for energy storage. The in-situ valorized lignin on raw wood surface accompanied by layer-by-layer deposition of electro-active materials endow such spatially distributed wood electrodes with high specific capacitance. Here, we report a layer-by-layer assembled ca.1.5 mm-thick redox wood hybrid electrode with 20 mg cm-2 electro-active mass loading for efficient energy storage. The in-situ modified surface lignin in treated wood (TrW) holds promise as redox-active material with enriched nanoporosity, carbonyl functionalities, and multi-phase ionic transport structure. The carbon nanotubes (CNTs) networking with in-situ polymerized polypyrrole (PPy) nanorods three-dimensionally in the lumen of TrW afford a wool-like, highly porous nanostructure. Such a hierarchical structured PPy@CNTs@TrW electrode offers a high areal capacitance of 1.46 F cm-2 with an extraordinary energy density of 0.983 mWh cm-3 (3.68 Wh kg-1) and power density of 5.4 mW cm-3 (20.25 W kg-1). Here, the valorized surface lignin contributes contributes to electrochemical energy storage accompanied by spatially distributed PPy@CNTs in low tortuous electrodes. The electrode offers extremely low electrochemical impedance of 0.61 Ω electrode resistance and 1.57 Ω electrolyte resistance. The hybrid wood electrode showcases even higher conductivity and energy/power density than thin carbonized wood and other state-of-the-art thin electrodes made of highly conductive three-dimensional networks. This work highlights the potential of in-situ valorized lignin in developing high-performance eco-friendly thick-electrodes for electrochemical energy storage applications.

Fabrication of Fe@Ni-orotate coordination polymer composite: iron doping provokes the colorimetric recognition efficiency for naproxen drug and energy storage magnitude

Coordination polymers have emerged as promising materials for various applications due to their unique properties and structural versatility. Making a composite with coordination polymers may broaden their applications. In this study, we developed Iron doped Nickel Coordination polymer Fe@Ni-CP from previously synthesized nickel orotate coordination polymer and explored its efficacy in sensing Naproxen (NPX) and also as an electrode material for energy storage devices. Photoluminescence sensing investigations exhibited a notable enhancement in NPX sensing efficiency, whereby the Fe@Ni-CP composite displayed a sensing efficiency of 94.05 %, surpassing the 6.42 % efficiency observed when utilizing the Ni-Orotate coordination polymer alone. Moreover, both materials showed significant differences in specific capacitance when tested as energy storage electrodes using Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) and Galvanostatic Charge Discharge (GCD). The Fe@Ni-CP has specific capacitance of 810.83 F/g, compared to 468.00 F/g for the Ni-CP. In Cyclic Voltammetry, Fe@Ni-CP retained 91.07 % specific capacitance after 4000 cycles. These findings underscore the potential of Fe@Ni-CP for multifunctional applications in sensing and energy storage.

Electrochemical Investigation of Lithium Perchlorate-Doped Polypyrrole Growing on Titanium Substrate

Lithium perchlorate-doped polypyrrole growing on titanium substrate (LiClO4-PPy/Ti) has been fabricated to act as electroactive electrode material for feasible electrochemical energy storage. A theoretical and experimental investigation is adopted to disclose the conductivity, electroactivity properties and interfacial interaction-dependent capacitance of LiClO4-PPy/Ti electrode. The experimental measurement results disclose that LiClO4-PPy/Ti reveals lower ohmic resistance (0.2226 Ω cm−2) and charge transfer resistance (2116 Ω cm−2) to exhibit higher electrochemical conductivity, a more reactive surface, and feasible ion diffusion to present higher double-layer capacitance (0.1930 mF cm−2) rather than LiClO4/Ti (0.3660 Ω cm−2, 65,250 Ω cm−2, 0.0334 mF cm−2). LiClO4-PPy/Ti reveals higher Faradaic capacitance caused by the reversible doping and dedoping process of perchlorate ion on PPy than the electrical double-layer capacitance of LiClO4/Ti caused by the reversible adsorption and desorption process of the LiClO4 electrolyte on Ti. Theoretical simulation calculation results prove that a more intensive electrostatic interaction of pyrrole N···Ti (2.450 Å) in LiClO4-PPy/Ti rather than perchlorate O···Ti (3.537 Å) in LiClO4/Ti. LiClO4-PPy/Ti exhibits higher density of states (57.321 electrons/eV) at Fermi energy and lower HOMO-LUMO molecule orbital energy gap (0.032 eV) than LiClO4/Ti (9.652 electrons/eV, 0.340 eV) to present the enhanced electronic conductivity. LiClO4-PPy/Ti also exhibits a more declined interface energy (−1.461 × 104) than LiClO4/Ti (−5.202 × 103 eV) to present the intensified interfacial interaction. LiClO4-PPy/Ti accordingly exhibits much higher specific capacitances of 0.123~0.0122 mF cm−2 at current densities of 0.01~0.10 mA cm−2 rather than LiClO4/Ti (0.010~0.0095 mF cm−2, presenting superior electroactivity and electrochemical capacitance properties. LiClO4-PPy/Ti could well act as the electroactive supercapacitor electrode for feasible energy storage.

Surface exsolved NiFeOx nanocatalyst for enhanced alkaline oxygen evolution catalysis

A synergistically improved alkaline oxygen evolution catalyst of the NiFeOx nanoalloy oxide structure is introduced using an in-situ exsolution method. The separately doped Ni and Fe ions are exsolved on the surface of the perovskite as homogeneously distributed NiFeOx oxide alloy catalysts via following reduction and oxidation processes. The incorporation of additional Fe into the surface embedded NiFeOx catalyst improved the inherent oxygen evolution reaction (OER) property with fast reaction kinetics. Density functional theory (DFT) result indicates the lowest OER overpotential of NiFeOx catalyst is originated from the reduced energy barrier of surface *O formation from *OH group. The NiFeOx exsolved catalyst shows the smallest overpotential of 0.49 V (j = 10 mA∙cm−2) and Tafel slope (93 mV∙dec-1), compared with that of single NiO (0.54 V, 132 mV∙dec-1) and Fe3O4 catalyst. This study provides an effective method for developing nanosized OER catalysts for various energy conversion and storage electrode materials.

The hierarchical dense structure induced high stability to NiCoB-based electrode for electrochemical energy storage

The construction of stable hierarchical surfaces through structural engineering is the key to improve reactive active sites and cycle stability to achieve high cycle performance of supercapacitors (SCs). In this work, the NiCo-LDH nanoflower as a structure guide agent was used to support NiCoB nanosheets to form a dense and stable hierarchical structure, thereby exposing more active sites and improving cycle stability. Due to the hierarchical stable surface structure, the NiCoB-0.3@NiCo-LDH-30 electrode has an excellent specific capacitance of 2710F g−1 at 1 A/g due to the excellent electrochemical active surface area (1259 mF cm−2), improving the OH– diffusion coefficient (2.4 × 10−9 cm2 s−1) and decreasing ionic diffusion barrier. After 5000 cycles, NiCoB-0.3@NiCo-LDH-30 electrode still has 92.6 % initial specific capacitance. In order to balance the energy density decrease caused by the capacitance imbalance between positive and negative electrodes, the cubed carbon (Co-C) derived from cobalt metal organic frameworks (Co-MOFs) as cathode with a good specific capacitance of 220F g−1 at 1 A/g is prepared. The assembled NiCoB-0.3@NiCo-LDH-30//Co-C hybrid SCs (HSCs), which are assembled with NiCoB-0.3@NiCo-LDH-30 electrode as anode and Co-C electrode as cathode, displays an energy density of 75 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 741 W kg−1.

A Highly Robust and Conducting Ultramicroporous 3D Fe(II)-Based Metal-Organic Framework for Efficient Energy Storage.

Exploitation of metal-organic framework (MOF) materials as active electrodes for energy storage or conversion is reasonably challenging owing to their poor robustness against various acidic/basic conditions and conventionally low electric conductivity. Keeping this in perspective, herein, a 3D ultramicroporous triazolate Fe-MOF (abbreviated as Fe-MET) is judiciously employed using cheap and commercially available starting materials. Fe-MET possesses ultra-stability against various chemical environments (pH-1 to pH-14 with varied organic solvents) and is highly electrically conductive (σ=0.19Sm-1) in one fell swoop. By taking advantage of the properties mentioned above, Fe-MET electrodes give prominence to electrochemical capacitor (EC) performance by delivering an astounding gravimetric (304Fg-1) and areal (181mFcm-2) capacitance at 0.5Ag-1 current density with exceptionally high cycling stability. Implementation of Fe-MET as an exclusive (by not using any conductive additives) EC electrode in solid-state energy storage devices outperforms most of the reported MOF-based EC materials and even surpasses certain porous carbon and graphene materials, showcasing superior capabilities and great promise compared to various other alternatives as energy storage materials.

Fabrication of nickel-cobalt sulfide heterostructures with stable thermodynamic interfaces and enhanced electrochemical performance

Transition metal sulfides (TMS) with multicomponent heterostructure have been widely used as electrodes in electrochemical energy storage devices due to their abundant electroactive sites and fast charge transfer across the interfaces. Different kinds of heterostructures with specific TMS are fabricated by various routes to date, but it is still poorly understood how specific thermodynamic interfaces can be designed and easily coupled. Herein, the spinel and cobalt-pentlandite crystal phases of nickel–cobalt sulfides were chosen as models to demonstrate the formation of epitaxial heterointerface. The density functional theory calculations revealed the easy combination and high compatibility of these two crystal phases at the (111) plane. Along this guideline, a novel NiCo2S4/[Ni, Co]9S8 heterostructure was synthesized by a facile one-step hydrothermal strategy, with nanosheet-like shapes and well-defined heterointerfaces along the [111] crystal direction. The formation mechanism of the epitaxial heterointerface was proposed through the combination of solid and liquid phase reaction fields. As a proof-of-concept application, the obtained NiCo2S4/[Ni, Co]9S8 heterostructure as redox electrode for supercapacitor exhibits an enhanced specific capacitance of 1780F g−1 at 1 A/g and high capacitance retention of 70 % at 20 A/g. Moreover, the assembled aqueous hybrid supercapacitor of NiCo2S4/[Ni, Co]9S8//activated carbon delivers a high energy density of 62.8 Wh kg−1 at 0.4 kW kg−1 and excellent electrochemical stability after 3000 cycles. This work provides a new perspective on the epitaxial design of nickel–cobalt sulfide heterostructure with good lattice match as a promising electrode in energy storage devices.

A close-packed sphere model for characterising porous networks in atomistic simulations and its application in energy storage and conversion

Hierarchical (micro, meso & macro) porosity in materials plays a crucial role in influencing the movement of ions which governs the energy and power density during energy storage and conversion. The extant available methods to characterise porosity across scales (nano to meso to macro) lacks rigour and accuracy. Having accurate assessment of the porosity in materials can unlock new designs of electrodes for energy efficient energy storage and conversion devices such as batteries, supercapacitors and fuel cells. Through this work, we report the systematic development of a method to fully characterise the carbon porous networks using a molecular dynamics simulation testbed. Our work entails modelling and simulation of porous carbon structures using quenched molecular dynamics (QMD) simulations using Gaussian Approximation potential (GAP) and benchmarking the results with prior literature. This modelling technique can reliably be used for quantitative characterisation of the interconnectivity in porous structures to study ionic movements and charge transfer mechanisms. A new parameter, namely nearest neighbour search (NNS) coefficient was introduced to quantify homogeneity and networking in the porous structures. NNS coefficient increased from 1.62 to 1.92 with decrease of the annealing temperature from 8000 K to 4000 K in carbon. The procedure outlined was although tested on porous carbon networks, but adaptable to study any other material system at multi-length scales.

Doping Ti3C2Tx with Sn to enhance the stability of electrode for supercapacitor

The chemical instability and self-restacking have become major hurdle to the practical application of Ti3C2Tx although it is considered to be the promising candidates for energy storage. Herein, one-step process is developed to increase the stability and inhibit the self-agglomeration of Ti3C2Tx by using SnCl2 in ethanol to intercalate Ti3C2Tx. Characterization results demonstrate that Sn has doped into Ti3C2Tx (termed Ti3C2Tx-Sn). The obtained Ti3C2Tx-Sn shows an enlarged interlayer spacing to facilitate the rapid diffusion of electrolyte ions, and improve the stability by reducing its oxidation rate. In 1.0 M H2SO4 solution, the optimal Ti3C2Tx-Sn sample (labelled as Ti3C2Tx-Sn-2) can retain 93.5 % of its initial capacitance after 10,000 cycles, but Ti3C2Tx electrode only 51.2 %. Especially, after storage for 120 days in a refrigerator at −18 °C, the Ti3C2Tx-Sn-2 sample still exhibits excellent cycle stability (84.6 % capacitive retention after 10,000 cycles) while Ti3C2Tx sample remains negligible capacitance retention (only 2.7 % of its initial capacitance). It is believed that this work provides a simple and mild strategy to prepare high-stability Ti3C2Tx-based electrodes for energy storage.

Self-supported iron-doped nickel oxide multifunctional electrodes for highly efficient energy storage and overall water-splitting uses

Caused by complex synthesis processes, slow diffusion rates, and the formation of undesired nanostructures, it is tedious to produce a high-quality nickel oxide (NiO) electrodes for potential energy storage and water splitting applications. This paper introduces a novel chemical technique for producing self-supported iron-doped NiO electrodes having a high concentration of oxygen vacancies by utilizing different iron-based salts i.e. iron nitrate, iron chloride, iron ammonium sulfate, iron fumarate, and iron sulfate salts. After examining physical properties, the electrochemical energy storage and water splitting measurements were performed where iron nitrate precursor-mediated self-supporting Fe-NiO electrode confirms the optimum performance. Specifically, it exhibits a specific capacitance (SC) of 3302.5 Fg−1 at a current density of 5 Ag−1. The as-fabricated Fe-NiO-A//Bi2O3 asymmetric supercapacitor has a broad voltage range of 1.5 V, a remarkable volumetric-energy-density of 98.2 W hkg−1 at a power density of 900 Wkg−1, and a long-lasting cycling life with 92.6 % capacity retention after 5000 cycles at a current density of 15 Ag−1. A bifunctional Fe-NiO//Fe-NiO electrocatalyst demonstrates a current density of 10 mA cm−2 and remarkable long-term durability of 75 h without any degradation while operating at an ultra-low cell voltage of only 1.51 V, specifying importance of self-supported Fe-doped NiO electrodes for electrochemical energy storage and water splitting applications.

Nano-alumina islands enabling superior capacitive lithium-ion storage of pitaya configuration

Currently, high-temperature thermal failure hinders the development of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Interfacial side reaction of electrolyte and electrode is the main cause of thermal failure at high temperature. Explicitly, suppressing interfacial side reactions at high temperatures can help the research of capacitive energy storage electrodes. While, thermo-electrochemical inert alumina can be facilitated to solve this problem. In this paper, pitaya configuration of nano-alumina islands uniformly dispersed in carbon matrix can be achieved from NOTT-300(Al). Nano-alumina contributes to the structural stability of porous carbon during carbonization and lithium deintercalation. And nano-alumina islands are effective in suppressing interfacial side reactions at high temperatures. Thus, NC-3 exhibits competitive specific capacity (717.1 mAh/g) and cycling stability (99.15% after 500 cycles). NC-3's capacity was confirmed to be mainly attributed to capacitive energy storage mechanism. This study provides a new research paradigm for nano-alumina to improve the high-temperature thermal stability management of LIBs.

Manganese ferrite/reduced graphene oxide composites as energy storage electrode materials for supercapacitors

Manganese ferrite/reduced graphene oxide composites as energy storage electrode materials for supercapacitors

ReS2/CoS heterostructure catalysts for electrochemical application in hydrogen evolution and supercapacitor

Development of Nano-heterostructures based on transition metal chalcogenides is promising strategy to accelerate the catalytic performance for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and supercapacitor application. The design and development of non-noble transition metal based catalysts is required for the low-cost, efficient and earth-abundant electrodes for sustainable energy conversion and storage. ReS2/CoS heterostructures were synthesized by two step methods involving liquid phase exfoliation of ReS2 and hydrothermal decoration of CoS. The prepared ReS2/CoS heterostructures shows high performance supercapacitor applications with specific capacitance of 663.2 F/g at 2 A/g and 643.1 F/g at scan rate 5 mV/s, showing enhanced redox reaction and number of electrochemically active sites due to synergistic effect and modulated electronic structure. Additionally, ReS2/CoS heterostructures shows the superior HER performance in alkaline condition with overpotential of 187 mV at 10 mA/cm2 due to accelerated kinetics, enhanced ECSA and low charge transfer resistance. The ReS2/CoS heterostructures shows the stable electrochemical performance for HER for more than 17 h.

Multiscale hierarchical nanoarchitectonics with stereographically 3D-printed electrodes for water splitting and energy storage

The pursuit of sustainable solutions to address the global energy crisis has led to a keen interest in the advancement of cost-effective and multifunctional electrochemical systems. These systems aim to achieve both zero-carbon emissions and the dual capability to convert and store energy efficiently. The electrochemical splitting of water is one way to create carbon–neutral, clean hydrogen gas. Electrocatalysis and hydrogen evolution in general depends not only on the catalyst but also on its nano- and microstructure, which influences local chemical conditions and hydrogen gas bubble detachment. Therefore, rapid screening of not only potential catalysts but also various structured surfaces is needed for effective electrode fabrication. The fused deposition modeling (FDM) method of 3D printing is frequently used for electrode fabrication using conducting filaments; however, its micro-structuration resolution is limited. Stereolithography can produce complex and fine structures; however, the resins are not conductive and therefore the structures are not suitable for electrode fabrication. In this work, we have fabricated a substrate with high-resolution needle array architecture using stereolithographic (SLA) 3D printing and coated it with Co3Te4-CoTe2 (COT) nanofiber for water splitting and energy storage. The SLA 3D-printed cobalt telluride electrodes showed appreciable performance as a photoelectrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), acting as a bifunctional catalyst. We also demonstrated fabrication of a cobalt telluride based SLA 3D-printed supercapacitor device with multiscale hierarchy. The SLA 3D-printed supercapacitor device exhibited good electrochemical behavior along with high cycling stability. In general, we show here a universal method for SLA conductive electrode fabrication with hierarchical structuring of functional elements and suitable for various applications.