Catalyst-embedded mesoporous carbon cryogels for energy storage
AssigneeXbm USA LLC
InventorJunbing Yang
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Abstract
A method for fabricating carbon cryogel exhibiting high surface area, an increased mesopore ratio, and cost-efficiency, utilizing biomass-derived, low-cost tannin and formaldehyde. Furthermore, this method incorporates calcium salt as a catalyst, a deviation from the widely used sodium carbonate. The resulting carbon cryogel possesses high surface area, an enhanced mesopore ratio, and improved sulfur loading capacity, rendering them ideal sulfur hosts for Li—S batteries. The present method disclosed herein constitutes a significant improvement over the existing state-of-the-art carbon cryogel for Li—S batteries, with potential implications for the progression of high-performance, cost-effective Li—S batteries.
Claims45
A method for producing a catalyst-embedded mesoporous carbon cryogel, comprising:
- preparing a sol-gel solution that includes a biomass-derived polyphenolic precursor, a crosslinking agent, a catalyst, and a surfactant in a solvent;
- aging the sol-gel solution to form a gel;
- freezing the gel to form an organic cryogel;
- carbonizing the organic cryogel in the presence of an inert gas to prepare a carbon cryogel having a first number of mesopores;
- and
- activating the carbonized cryogel in the presence of an oxidative gas to prepare an activated carbon cryogel having a second number of mesopores in the carbon cryogel, the second number of mesopores for the activated carbon cryogel being larger than the first number of mesopores in the carbonized cryogel.
A carbon cryogel for use as a sulfur host material, comprising:
- a porous carbon material frozen to form an activated carbon cryogel;
- and
- a plurality of catalyst nanoparticles uniformly embedded within the activated carbon cryogel and distributed within the activated carbon cryogel.
A battery cell, comprising:
- a cathode electrode, the cathode material including a sulfur cathode that includes a host material, the host material formed from a catalyst-embedded mesoporous carbon cryogel;
- an anode electrode;
- a separator;
- and
- an electrolyte.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.