Salt can increase battery performance? New technology can be used for battery electrodes and increase capacitance

　　A little salt can increase battery performance? It sounds like a fantasy, but this is the joint research results of Queen Mary University of London, Cambridge University and Max Planck Institute of Solid State Physics and Materials. By carbonization, a 3D multilayer carbon structure can be created, which can be used for battery electrodes and increase capacitance.

　　Scientists have discovered that by putting salt into a supramolecular sponge and placing it in a high-temperature baking environment, the sponge can be turned into a carbon-based structure. Among them, the salt will react with the metal sponge in a special way, changing the sponge from a homogeneous substance into a complex structure with fibers, supports and nets. This 3D carbon structure can promote the migration of electrolyte ions when used as the negative electrode of the battery, but It is difficult to manufacture in the laboratory.

　　According to its research in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, if the material is used in lithium-ion batteries, not only can the charging speed of the battery be increased, but the capacity can also be increased. Because diatoms in nature also have complex structures, the researchers named the material "nano-diatoms" and believe that nano-diatoms can also be used for energy storage and energy conversion, such as electrocatalysts for hydrogen fuel. .

　　Dr. Stoyan Smoukov, School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, said that this metamorphosis (metamorphosis) only occurs when the compound is heated to 800 degrees Celsius, and the team also discovered that carbonization can be controlled by changing the chemical composition.

　　Multi-layered 3D carbon-based nanostructures not only have good electrical conductivity and other physical properties, but can also be made into lightweight structural materials or improve the wettability of carbon materials to promote ion flow. But it is very difficult to make 3D carbon-based nanostructures, let alone make them in a simple way.

　　The supramolecular sponge used in the research is a metal organic framework material (MOF), which has the potential for applications such as gas storage. Generally speaking, the surface area of MOF sponge will increase after carbonization, which can become a new force for electrode materials, but research has found that carbonized MOF will only form random carbon derivatives. Fortunately, the team found that after salt carbonization of MOF sponge, random carbon derivatives can be transformed into complex and orderly multilayer carbon-based materials.