Science Daily July 22, 2021
The anodes of lithium ion batteries in use today have multiple inadequacies. Researchers in South Korea focused on manganese selenide (MnSe) for its high electrical conductivity. To prevent the drastic volume change it undergoes, they uniformly infused the MnSe nanoparticles into a three-dimensional porous carbon nanosheet matrix. In the new anode material (MnSe ⊂ 3DCNM), the carbon nanosheet scaffold provided MnSe nanoparticles with a high number of active sites and an enhanced contact area with the electrolyte and protected them from drastic volume expansion. They synthesized a variety of MnSe ⊂ 3DCNM materials. Among these, they found MnSe ⊂ 3DCNM-1.92 to exhibit the best cycle stability and rate capabilities. When combined with lithium manganese oxide (LiMn2O4) in a fuel cell, the team observed that MnSe ⊂ 3DCNM-1.92 remarkably continued to demonstrate superior electrochemical properties, including superior lithium ion and electron transport kinetics. The new anode boosts the battery performance and allows reversible energy storage. This strategy can serve as a guide for other transition metal selenides with high surface areas and stable nanostructures, with applications in storage systems, electrocatalysis, and semiconductors…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Graphical abstract. Credit: Chemical Engineering Journal, Volume 423, 1 November 2021, 130243