Three-dimensional Carbon Nanofiber Research Articles

Three-dimensional carbon nanofiber derived from bacterial cellulose for use in a Nafion matrix on a glassy carbon electrode for simultaneous voltammetric determination of trace levels of Cd(II) and Pb(II)

The authors describe the preparation of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) with a three-dimensional network structure by one-step carbonization of bacterial cellulose at 800 degrees C. The 3D CNFs wrapped wi ...

A carbon nanofiber network for stable lithium metal anodes with high Coulombic efficiency and long cycle life

Li metal is considered one of the most promising candidates for the anode material in high-energy-density Li-ion batteries. However, the dendritic growth of Li metal during the plating/stripping process can severely reduce Coulombic efficiency and cause safety problems, which is a key issue limiting the application of Li metal anodes. Herein, we present a novel strategy for dendrite-free deposition of Li by modifying the Cu current collector with a three-dimensional carbon nanofiber (CNF) network. Owing to the large surface area and high conductivity of the CNF network, Li metal is inserted into and deposited onto the CNF directly, and no dendritic Li metal is observed, leaving a flat Li metal surface. With Li metal as the counter electrode for Li deposition, an average Coulombic efficiency of 99.9% was achieved for more than 300 cycles, at large current densities of 1.0 and 2.0 mA·cm−2, and with a high Li loading of 1 mAh·cm−2. The scalability of the preparation method and the impressive results achieved here demonstrate the potential for the application of our design to the future development of dendrite-free Li metal anodes.

Anchoring Fe3O4 nanoparticles on three-dimensional carbon nanofibers toward flexible high-performance anodes for lithium-ion batteries

There is growing interest in flexible, cost-effective, and binder-free energy storage devices to meet the special needs of modern electronic systems. Herein we report a general, scalable, eco-friendly, and cost-effective approach for the fabrication of nano-Fe3O4-anchored three-dimensional (3D) carbon nanofiber (CNFs) aerogels (Fe3O4@BC-CNFs). The preparation processes include the anchoring of Fe2O3 nanoparticles on bacterial cellulose (BC) nanofibers with intrinsic 3D network structure and subsequent carbonization at different temperatures. The aerogel carbonized at 600 °C (Fe3O4@BC-CNFs-600) is highly flexible and was directly used as working electrodes in lithium-ion batteries without metal current collectors, conducting additives, or binders. The Fe3O4@BC-CNFs-600 demonstrates greatly improved electrochemical performance in comparison to the bare Fe3O4 nanoparticles. In addition to its excellent flexibility, a stable capacity of 755 mAh g−1 for up to 80 cycles is also higher than most of carbon-Fe3O4 hybrids. The high reversible capacity and excellent rate capability are attributed to its 3D porous network structure with well-dispersed Fe3O4 nanoparticles on the surfaces of CNFs.

Polyaniline-coated freestanding porous carbon nanofibers as efficient hybrid electrodes for supercapacitors

Three-dimensional, free-standing, hybrid supercapacitor electrodes combining polyaniline (PANI) and porous carbon nanofibers (P-CNFs) were fabricated with the aim to integrate the benefits of both electric double layer capacitors (high power, cyclability) and pseudocapacitors (high energy density). A systematic investigation of three different electropolymerization techniques, namely, potentiodynamic, potentiostatic, and galvanostatic, for electrodeposition of PANI on freestanding carbon nanofiber mats was conducted. It was found that the galvanostatic method, where the current density is kept constant and can be easily controlled facilitates conformal and uniform coating of PANI on three-dimensional carbon nanofiber substrates. The electrochemical tests indicated that the PANI-coated P-CNFs exhibit excellent specific capacitance of 366 F g−1 (vs. 140 F g−1 for uncoated porous carbon nanofibers), 140 F cm−3 volumetric capacitance, and up to 2.3 F cm−2 areal capacitance at 100 mV s−1 scan rate. Such excellent performance is attributed to a thin and conformal coating of PANI achieved using the galvanostatic electrodeposition technique, which not only provides pseudocapacitance with high rate capability, but also retains the double-layer capacitance of the underlying P-CNFs.

A general strategy of decorating 3D carbon nanofiber aerogels derived from bacterial cellulose with nano-Fe3O4for high-performance flexible and binder-free lithium-ion battery anodes

A novel flexible nano-Fe3O4-decorated three-dimensional carbon nanofiber aerogel derived from bacterial cellulose was fabricatedviaa hydrothermal approachfollowed by carbonization.

Preparation and mineralization of three-dimensional carbon nanofibers from bacterial cellulose as potential scaffolds for bone tissue engineering

Nanofibers exist widely in human tissue and designing three-dimensional (3-D) nanofibrous tissue engineering has important implications. For the first time to our knowledge, this article described the construction of 3-D nanofibrous carbon scaffolds for potential bone tissue regeneration which are composed of carbon nanofiber (CNF) and hydroxyapatite (HAp). CNFs were obtained by carbonization under inert conditions with 3-D bacterial cellulose nanofibers as starting carbon sources. The resulting CNFs showed 3-D fibrous structural features with diameter ranging from 10 to 20 nm. In vitro biomineralization process was performed on the surface-treated 3-D CNFs. The resultant CNF/HAp composites were investigated using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microcopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The results showed that surface treatment of CNFs in nitric acid promoted the mineralization and changed the morphology of HAp formed on CNFs.