Browsing by Author "Chang, Kai"

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    Nanostructured Molybdenum-Oxide Anodes for Lithium-Ion Batteries: An Outstanding Increase in Capacity
    (MDPI, 2021) Wang, Hua; Li, Tianyi; Hashem, Ahmed M.; Abdel-Ghany, Ashraf E.; El-Tawil, Rasha S.; Abuzeid, Hanaa M.; Coughlin, Amanda; Chang, Kai; Zhang, Shixiong; El-Mounayri, Hazim; Tovar, Andres; Zhu, Likun; Julien, Christian M.; Mechanical and Energy Engineering, School of Engineering and Technology
    This work aimed at synthesizing MoO3 and MoO2 by a facile and cost-effective method using extract of orange peel as a biological chelating and reducing agent for ammonium molybdate. Calcination of the precursor in air at 450 °C yielded the stochiometric MoO3 phase, while calcination in vacuum produced the reduced form MoO2 as evidenced by X-ray powder diffraction, Raman scattering spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy images showed different morphologies and sizes of MoOx particles. MoO3 formed platelet particles that were larger than those observed for MoO2. MoO3 showed stable thermal behavior until approximately 800 °C, whereas MoO2 showed weight gain at approximately 400 °C due to the fact of re-oxidation and oxygen uptake and, hence, conversion to stoichiometric MoO3. Electrochemically, traditional performance was observed for MoO3, which exhibited a high initial capacity with steady and continuous capacity fading upon cycling. On the contrary, MoO2 showed completely different electrochemical behavior with less initial capacity but an outstanding increase in capacity upon cycling, which reached 1600 mAh g−1 after 800 cycles. This outstanding electrochemical performance of MoO2 may be attributed to its higher surface area and better electrical conductivity as observed in surface area and impedance investigations.
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    Silver Nanocoating of LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 Cathode Material for Lithium-Ion Batteries
    (MDPI, 2023-04-23) Li, Xintong; Chang, Kai; Abbas, Somia M.; El-Tawil, Rasha S.; Abdel-Ghany, Ashraf E.; Hashem, Ahmed M.; Wang, Hua; Coughlin, Amanda L.; Zhang, Shixiong; Mauger, Alain; Zhu, Likun; Julien, Christian M.; Mechanical and Energy Engineering, School of Engineering and Technology
    Surface coating has become an effective approach to improve the electrochemical performance of Ni-rich cathode materials. In this study, we investigated the nature of an Ag coating layer and its effect on electrochemical properties of the LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 (NCM811) cathode material, which was synthesized using 3 mol.% of silver nanoparticles by a facile, cost-effective, scalable and convenient method. We conducted structural analyses using X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, which revealed that the Ag nanoparticle coating did not affect the layered structure of NCM811. The Ag-coated sample had less cation mixing compared to the pristine NMC811, which could be attributed to the surface protection of Ag coating from air contamination. The Ag-coated NCM811 exhibited better kinetics than the pristine one, which is attributed to the higher electronic conductivity and better layered structure provided by the Ag nanoparticle coating. The Ag-coated NCM811 delivered a discharge capacity of 185 mAh·g-1 at the first cycle and 120 mAh·g-1 at the 100th cycle, respectively, which is better than the pristine NMC811.
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    Structural and Electrochemical Properties of the High Ni Content Spinel LiNiMnO4
    (MDPI, 2021) Li, Tianyi; Chang, Kai; Hashem, Ahmed M.; Abdel-Ghany, Ashraf E.; El-Tawil, Rasha S.; Wang, Hua; El-Mounayri, Hazim; Tovar, Andres; Zhu, Likun; Julien, Christian M.; Mechanical and Energy Engineering, School of Engineering and Technology
    This work presents a contribution to the study of a new Ni-rich spinel cathode material, LiNiMnO4, for Li-ion batteries operating in the 5-V region. The LiNiMnO4 compound was synthesized by a sol-gel method assisted by ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) as a chelator. Structural analyses carried out by Rietveld refinements and Raman spectroscopy, selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and X-ray photoelectron (XPS) spectroscopy reveal that the product is a composite (LNM@NMO), including non-stoichiometric LiNiMnO4-δ spinel and a secondary Ni6MnO8 cubic phase. Cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge-discharge profiles show similar features to those of LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 bare. A comparison of the electrochemical performances of 4-V spinel LiMn2O4 and 5-V spinel LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 with those of LNM@NMO composite demonstrates the long-term cycling stability of this new Ni-rich spinel cathode. Due to the presence of the secondary phase, the LNM@NMO electrode exhibits an initial specific capacity as low as 57 mAh g−1 but shows an excellent electrochemical stability at 1C rate for 1000 cycles with a capacity decay of 2.7 × 10−3 mAh g−1 per cycle.