Li-ion batteries have transformed portable electronics and will play a key role in the electrification of transport. However, the highest energy storage possible for Li-ion batteries is insufficient for the long-term needs of society, for example, extended-range electric vehicles. To go beyond the horizon of Li-ion batteries is a formidable challenge; there are few options. Here we consider two: Li-air (O(2)) and Li-S. The energy that can be stored in Li-air (based on aqueous or non-aqueous electrolytes) and Li-S cells is compared with Li-ion; the operation of the cells is discussed, as are the significant hurdles that will have to be overcome if such batteries are to succeed. Fundamental scientific advances in understanding the reactions occurring in the cells as well as new materials are key to overcoming these obstacles. The potential benefits of Li-air and Li-S justify the continued research effort that will be needed.

Li-O2 and Li-S batteries with high energy storage.

Today’s electric vehicles are almost exclusively powered by lithium-ion batteries, but there is a long way to go before electric vehicles become dominant in the global automotive market. In addition to policy support, widespread deployment of electric vehicles requires high-performance and low-cost energy storage technologies, including not only batteries but also alternative electrochemical devices. Here, we provide a comprehensive evaluation of various batteries and hydrogen fuel cells that have the greatest potential to succeed in commercial applications. Three sectors that are not well served by current lithium-ion-powered electric vehicles, namely the long-range, low-cost and high-utilization transportation markets, are discussed. The technological properties that must be improved to fully enable these electric vehicle markets include specific energy, cost, safety and power grid compatibility. Six energy storage and conversion technologies that possess varying combinations of these improved characteristics are compared and separately evaluated for each market. The remainder of the Review briefly discusses the technological status of these clean energy technologies, emphasizing barriers that must be overcome. Recent years have seen significant growth of electric vehicles and extensive development of energy storage technologies. This Review evaluates the potential of a series of promising batteries and hydrogen fuel cells in their deployment in automotive electrification.

Batteries and fuel cells for emerging electric vehicle markets

Liquid electrolyte lithium/sulfur battery: Fundamental chemistry, problems, and solutions

Nanoscale hydroxyapatite particles for bone tissue engineering

Synthesis methods for nanosized hydroxyapatite with diverse structures.

The influence of pH and temperature on the morphology of hydroxyapatite synthesized by hydrothermal method

Single-atom catalysts provide an effective approach to reduce the amount of precious metals meanwhile maintain their catalytic activity. However, the sluggish activity of the catalysts for alkaline water dissociation has hampered advances in highly efficient hydrogen production. Herein, we develop a single-atom platinum immobilized NiO/Ni heterostructure (PtSA-NiO/Ni) as an alkaline hydrogen evolution catalyst. It is found that Pt single atom coupled with NiO/Ni heterostructure enables the tunable binding abilities of hydroxyl ions (OH*) and hydrogen (H*), which efficiently tailors the water dissociation energy and promotes the H* conversion for accelerating alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction. A further enhancement is achieved by constructing PtSA-NiO/Ni nanosheets on Ag nanowires to form a hierarchical three-dimensional morphology. Consequently, the fabricated PtSA-NiO/Ni catalyst displays high alkaline hydrogen evolution performances with a quite high mass activity of 20.6 A mg−1 for Pt at the overpotential of 100 mV, significantly outperforming the reported catalysts. While H2 evolution from water may represent a renewable energy source, there is a strong need to improve catalytic efficiencies while maximizing materials utilization. Here, authors examine single-atom Pt on nickel-based heterostructures as highly active electrocatalysts for alkaline H2 evolution.

/pdf/platinum-single-atom-catalyst-coupled-with-transition-metal-1k6nct8zlu.pdf

Platinum single-atom catalyst coupled with transition metal/metal oxide heterostructure for accelerating alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction.

Rapid formation of hydroxyapatite nanostructures by microwave irradiation

Monoclinic bismuth vanadate (BiVO 4 ) powders were prepared by a mild hydrothermal method, using an aqueous solution of bismuth nitrate and two different vanadium sources (V 2 O 5 and NaVO 3 ) The characterization of as-prepared BiVO 4 was carried out by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) The results revealed that in the present work the temperature of 200 and 140 °C are sufficient to prepare phase pure BiVO 4 powders from V 2 O 5 and NaVO 3 , respectively The BiVO 4 sample prepared from V 2 O 5 consists of an agglomeration of small rod-like particles When BiVO 4 was prepared from NaVO 3 , monoclinic BiVO 4 powder with a plate form is obtained

Hydrothermal preparation of BiVO4 powders

A new type of three-dimensional (3D) NiO/ultrathin derived graphene (UDG) hybrid on commercial Ni foam (NF) for a binder-free pseudocapacitor electrode is presented. NiO nanoflakes are in situ grown by a chemical bath deposition (CBD) technique on the free-standing 3D UDG/NF scaffold, which is first prepared by a simple nanocasting process consisting of hydrothermal reaction and subsequent thermal transformation. The 3D UDG/NF scaffold with interconnected network affords a high conductivity due to the high graphitization degree and efficiently facilitates the electron transport to NiO. Moreover, the 3D NiO/UDG/NF hybrid allows for a thinner 3D active material layer under the same loading density, which could shorten the diffusion paths of ions. The NiO/UDG/NF hybrid is directly used as a binder-free supercapacitor electrode, which exhibited significantly improved supercapacitor performance compared to the bare CBD prepared NiO/NF electrode.

Jingbing Liu

Papers

The influence of pH and temperature on the morphology of hydroxyapatite synthesized by hydrothermal method

Platinum single-atom catalyst coupled with transition metal/metal oxide heterostructure for accelerating alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction.

Rapid formation of hydroxyapatite nanostructures by microwave irradiation

Hydrothermal preparation of BiVO4 powders

Preparation of Novel Three-Dimensional NiO/Ultrathin Derived Graphene Hybrid for Supercapacitor Applications