Wuhan University of Technology

About: Wuhan University of Technology is a education organization based out in Wuhan, China. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Microstructure & Catalysis. The organization has 40384 authors who have published 36724 publications receiving 575695 citations. The organization is also known as: WUT.

Recent Advances in Sodium-Ion Battery Materials

Abstract: Grid-scale energy storage systems with low-cost and high-performance electrodes are needed to meet the requirements of sustainable energy systems. Due to the wide abundance and low cost of sodium resources and their similar electrochemistry to the established lithium-ion batteries, sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have attracted considerable interest as ideal candidates for grid-scale energy storage systems. In the past decade, though tremendous efforts have been made to promote the development of SIBs, and significant advances have been achieved, further improvements are still required in terms of energy/power density and long cyclic stability for commercialization. In this review, the latest progress in electrode materials for SIBs, including a variety of promising cathodes and anodes, is briefly summarized. Besides, the sodium storage mechanisms, endeavors on electrochemical property enhancements, structural and compositional optimizations, challenges and perspectives of the electrode materials for SIBs are discussed. Though enormous challenges may lie ahead, we believe that through intensive research efforts, sodium-ion batteries with low operation cost and longevity will be commercialized for large-scale energy storage application in the near future.

3D Co-N-doped hollow carbon spheres as excellent bifunctional electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction and oxygen evolution reaction

Abstract: Non-precious materials have been considered as promising bifunctional catalysts towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In the present work, a three dimensional (3D) Co-N co-doped hollow carbon sphere (HCS) electrocatalyst is synthesized at room temperature by the aid of a facile preparation method. The as obtained Co-N co-doped catalyst exhibits excellent catalytic activity towards both ORR and OER due to its high surface area and to 3D hollow architecture. For the ORR, the catalyst shows more positive onset-potential (of ∼0.962 V vs. RHE) and larger diffusion limiting current density (5.55 mA cm −2 ) compared with benchmark Pt/C catalyst in alkaline medium. Moreover, the as synthesized catalyst exhibits low potential (1.720 V vs. RHE) at the current density of 10 mA cm −2 and small Tafel slope (81 mV dec −1 ) for OER. In addition, the catalyst exhibits remarkable methanol tolerance and good long-term stability under working conditions. This strategy provides a facile and effective method for the preparation of non-noble metal catalysts with 3D hollow structure for energy conversion and storage applications.

Synthesis of Boehmite Hollow Core/Shell and Hollow Microspheres via Sodium Tartrate-Mediated Phase Transformation and Their Enhanced Adsorption Performance in Water Treatment

Abstract: A variety of boehmite hollow core/shell and hollow microspheres with high adsorption affinity toward organic pollutants in water were prepared via a facile one-pot hydrothermal method using aluminum sulfate as a precursor and urea and sodium tartrate as precipitating and mediating agents, respectively. These microspheres were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and nitrogen adsorption. In addition, the aforementioned microspheres were examined as potential adsorbents for Congo red and phenol from aqueous solutions. This study shows that the crystallinity, specific surface area, and pore structure of the resulting microspheres can be controlled by varying the concentration of sodium tartrate and reaction time. The reported experiments allowed us to propose the mechanism of formation of hollow core/shell and hollow microspheres, which involves sodium tartrate-mediated phase transformation, followed by a subsequent self-assembly process. ...