Yubin Niu

Southwest University | SWU · Institute for Clean Energy & Advanced Materials

For Li-Se batteries, cathode using carbonaceous hosts to accommodate Se performed modestly, whereas those applying metallic compounds with stronger chemical adsorption exhibited even more rapid capacity decay, the intrinsic reasons for which are still not clear. Herein, it is found that Se tends to precipitate on the surface of the electrode during...

A strategy for the constructing of the cathode-electrolyte interface (CEI) film assisted by AlF3 as a cathode host for lithium-selenium batteries is proposed and realized. A simple one-step method for the conversion of porous carbon containing Al particles (PC/Al) to layered AlF3 (PC/AlF3) was employed. The stable PC substrate with multidirectional...

Owing to abundant resources and low cost, sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs) are sweeping the world at a rapid pace. The cathode is the key to determining the energy density of the battery, and polyanionic compounds have become a representative class of cathode materials due to their stable three‐dimensional framework structure, high operating voltage, an...

Sodium dentrite formed by uneven plating/stripping can reduce the utilization of active sodium with poor cyclic stability and, more importantly, cause internal short‐circuit and lead to thermal runaway and fire. Therefore, sodium dendrites and their related problems seriously hinder the practical application of sodium metal batteries (SMBs). Herein...

Quasi-solid-state sodium-ion batteries (QSSNIBs) are regarded as a wise choice that balances practicality with security. However, further improvements is hindered by low ionic conductivity at room temperature. Herein, based on bacterial cellulose network, a high-strength gel polymer electrolyte (BC-GPE) for QSSNIBs is developed. The interwoven stru...

Disordered carbons as the most promising anode materials for sodium ion batteries (SIBs) have attracted much attention, due to the widely‐distributed sources and potentially high output voltage when applied in full cells owing to the almost lowest voltage plateau. The complex microstructure makes the sodium storage mechanism of disordered carbons c...

Sulfur and selenium have been paid more and more attention in energy storage systems because of their high theoretical specific gravimetric and volumetric capacities. With the increasing scarcity of lithium resources, secondary batteries made of sulfur and selenium coupled with other alkali metal/alkaline earth metals (e.g. Na, K, Mg) are expected...

V 2 O 3 @C exhibits a different energy storage mechanism at high voltage from intercalation chemistry (in the low voltage range) with the decomposition and deposition of Zn 3 V 2 O 7 (OH) 2 ·2H 2 O.

Transition metal selenides (TMSs) are widely used as anodes in sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) due to their good electrical conductivity and high energy density. Herein, we reported and prepared a class of hybrids (FeSe2/CoSe2 and FeSe2/NiSe2) composed of two metal selenides by a controlled two-step solvothermal method, and assessed their sodium storag...

Na metal anodes have attracted widespread attention due to their ultrahigh specific capacity, low redox potential as well as the huge abundance and ubiquitous distribution of sodium resources. However, the practical application of Na metal anodes is largely hindered by their poor cycling stability and safety issues, mainly caused by the uneven depo...

Na-ion cathode materials operating at high voltage with a stable cycling behavior are needed to develop future high-energy Na-ion cells. However, the irreversible oxygen redox reaction at the high-voltage region in sodium layered cathode materials generates structural instability and poor capacity retention upon cycling. Here, we report a doping st...

Mediating the conversion kinetics and suppressing the shuttle effect are of vital importance for the pursue of high-capacity and long-lifetime lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. Herein, a chessboard like electrode is proposed to tackle these problems, where MXene nanosheets function as “chessboards” to provide a conductive skeleton for the rapid conv...

Phenolic resin as a typical hard carbon precursor has attracted much attention towards sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) due to its high carbon yield and large reversible capacity. However, phenolic resin-based hard carbon commonly suffers from limited cycling performance and low initial Coulombic efficiency. Herein, we synthesized a hard carbon material...

With increasing the diversity of electronic/electric appliances and large-scale energy storage systems, high-energy-density based device technology has been in great demand. Meanwhile, for developing of high-voltage and high-capacity cathode, the use of metals including lithium (Li), sodium (Na), potassium (K), or zinc (Zn) is quite impressive to r...

The irreversible consumption of active sodium in sodium-ion full-cells (SIFCs) becomes particularly serious due to the existence of unavoidable interface or side reaction, which has become the key to restrict the development of high-performance sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). Interface design and electrolyte optimization have been proved to be effecti...

Low‐cost and stable sodium‐layered oxides (such as P2‐ and O3‐phases) are suggested as highly promising cathode materials for Na‐ion batteries (NIBs). Biphasic hybridization, mainly involving P2/O3 and P2/P3 biphases, is typically used to boost their electrochemical performances. Herein, a P3/O3 intergrown layered oxide (Na2/3Ni1/3Mn1/3Ti1/3O2) as...

Carbon‐decorated Na3.5Mn0.5V1.5(PO4)3 (NMVP@C) composite was synthesized by one‐step solid‐state method. As a cathode material, the as‐obtained material shows a pair of significant redox peaks with highly reversible discharge capacity of 102.8 mAh g–1 at a current density of 100 mA g–1. More optimistically, when increased to 1600 mA g–1, a capacity...

The development of Na-ion full cells (NIFCs) suffers from the issue that the solid electrolyte interphase formation on the carbon anode consumes the limited sodium from cathode and thus incurs the decreased energy density and poor cyclic stability. To address these issues, we herein report that Na2O2 could be used as a sacrificial Na source through...

Lithium-rich layered oxide materials xLi2MnO3·(1-x)LiMO2 (M = Mn, Co, Ni, Fe, Cr, etc.) are promising cathode candidates for high energy Li-ion batteries because of their high specific capacities (> 250...

The exploitation of proper nanomaterials with embedded-conversion-alloy features is of great significance for accelerating the realization of Na-ion batteries (NIBs). In this work, a unique nanobox consisting of heterojunction bimetallic...

After the past decade’s rapid development, the commercial demands for sodium ion batteries (SIBs) have been put on the schedule for large-scale energy storage. Even though the electrode-electrolyte interphases play a very important role in determining the overall battery performance in terms of high energy density and long-cycling stability, studie...

The O3-type layered oxide cathodes for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are considered 28 as one of the most promising systems to fully meet the requirement for future 29 practical application. However, fatal issues in several respects such as poor air 30 stability, irreversible complex multiphase evolution, inferior cycling lifespan, and 31 poor indust...

Sodium‐ion batteries have gained much attention for their potential application in large‐scale stationary energy storage due to the low cost and abundant sodium sources in the earth. However, the electrochemical performance of sodium‐ion full cells (SIFCs) suffers severely from the irreversible consumption of sodium ions of cathode during the solid...

The 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for lithium‐ion batteries is a powerful confirmation of the importance of portable energy storage devices, which will further promote collaborative innovation in the field of new energy storage. Non‐lithium rechargeable energy storage technologies are attracting attention due to their low cost and high energy densi...

High thermal stability, nonflammability, and no liquid leakage are indispensable capabilities for electrolytes in sodium-ion batteries toward large-scale energy storage systems. The use of solid-state or gel polymer electrolytes has proven to be one of the enabling tools to bring about these advancements; however, their application suffer from tedi...

Cobalt ion modified titanate nanoarray (CTO NA) with a three-dimensional hierarchical structure is synthesized via a facile ion exchange strategy and further developed as an electrocatalyst toward efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In 0.1 M KOH solution, the CTO NA exhibits a low Tafel slope of 93 mV dec–1 and a small overpotential of 199...

During the first charge process of full cells, a solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) film is formed when the active ion from the cathode is consumed, resulting in irreversible capacity loss. This phenomenon has shown to be more serious in sodium-ion full cells than in lithium-ion full cells. Although many strategies have been employed to alleviate t...

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have been considered as an attractive and promising alternative for energy storage applications due to the advantages of abundant resources, low cost and relatively high safety. However, the lower electrochemical kinetics of sodium-ion batteries is a major issue limiting their large-scale application. One of the main str...

As a kind of post-Li-ion batteries (LIBs), the advantage of “high-quality and low-cost” reflected by Na-ion batteries (NIBs) in large-scale energy storage has attracted more and more attention and recognition. However, larger ionic radius and slower kinetic behavior of Na make it impossible to compete with more mature LIBs in terms of energy densit...

Integrating nanoscale active materials on conductive holey reduced graphene oxide (RGO) framework is an effective strategy to synthesize composite electrode materials for advanced lithium-ion batteries. Herein, a composite of γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles stabilized by the engineered holes on RGO was successfully synthesized by using a facile in-situ etchi...

With ever‐increasing efforts focused on basic research of sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs) and growing energy demand, sodium‐ion full cells (SIFCs), as unique bridging technology between sodium‐ion half‐cells (SIHCs) and commercial batteries, have attracted more and more interest and attention. To promote the development of SIFCs in a better way, it is...

Na-ion batteries (NIBs) have been suggested as one of the most promising technologies for low-cost rechargeable batteries due to the earth-abundance resource of sodium. However, the delivery of high-performance cathode is still facing a great challenge especially for the development of Na-ion full batteries towards practical application. Herein, we...

In this work, 3D honeycomb-like carbon-coated Na7Fe4.5(P2O7)4 nanocomposites are fabricated by a simple sol-gel method and used as cathode materials for the sodium-ion batteries. The electrochemical results reveal that the 3D hierarchically porous Na7Fe4.5(P2O7)4/C nanocomposites provide a high reversible capacity of 106 mA h g⁻¹ at 0.5 C and a goo...

As one of the most promising cathodes for rechargeable sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs), O3‐type layered transition metal oxides commonly suffer from inevitably complicated phase transitions and sluggish kinetics. Here, a Na[Li0.05Ni0.3Mn0.5Cu0.1Mg0.05]O2 cathode material with the exposed {010} active facets by multiple‐layer oriented stacking nanosheet...

Hard carbon has been regarded as promising anode materials for Na-ion batteries. Here we show, for the first time, the effects of two Na⁺ uptake/release routes, i.e., adsorption and intercalation process, on the electrochemical performance of half and full sodium batteries. Various Na⁺ storage processes are isolated in full-cells by controlling the...

In this paper, a novel polyanion-type material Cr2(MoO4)3 was synthesized and used as a high-rate electrode for rechargeable Li-ion batteries for the first time. The interconnected Cr2(MoO4)3 nanoparticles were prepared by a simple precipitation method and exhibited a superior high-rate capability (100 mAh g⁻¹ at 20 °C) and a good cyclability (at 2...

Active carbons have unique physicochemical properties, but their conductivities and surface to weight ratios are much poorer than graphene. A unique and facile method is innovated to chemically process biomass by “drilling” holes with H2O2 and exfoliating into graphene-like nanosheets with HAc, followed by carbonization at a high temperature for hi...

In this paper, carbon-coated Na3.64Fe2.18(P2O7)2 nanoparticles (～10 nm) were successfully synthesized via a facile sol-gel method and employed as cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries. The results show that the carbon-coated Na3.64Fe2.18(P2O7)2 cathode delivers a high reversible capacity of 99 mAhg-1 at 0.2 C, outstanding cycling life retentio...

Na6.24Fe4.88(P2O7)4 is one of the intensively investigated polyanionic compounds and has shown high rate discharge capacity, but its relatively low electronic conductivity hampers the high performance of the batteries. Herein for the first time we report a new graphene wrapped Na6.24Fe4.88(P2O7)4 composite nanofibers (NFPO@C@rGO) made from electros...

Na3[Ti2P2O10F], a novel oxyfluorinated titanium phosphate, is a promising anode material for lithium/sodium storage because of its open framework structure and marvelous two-dimensional (2D) tunnel. However, 2D nanostructured Na3[Ti2P2O10F] has been rarely prepared in view of the limitations of synthetic approaches. Here we report a one-step, low-c...

Nanostructured nickel sulfides with different morphologies were one-pot synthesized on Ni foam using a template-free hydrothermal method, and were further used as an anode in lithium-ion batteries. The effect of morphologies on the electrochemical behaviors of the anode in the batteries were investigated, of which the nanosheet array one delivers t...

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are of great importance as promising electrochemical-energy storage systems in view of their overwhelming advantage of energy density. However, their commercial applications are still far away mainly due to fast capacity decay in a high sulfur content caused by low utilization of active material and severe polysulfid...

ZnMoO4, carbon-coated ZnMoO4 (ZnMoO4/C) and ZnMoO4/Graphene (ZnMoO4/G) composite grown on titanium substrate were synthesized by simple hydrothermal reaction and their lithium storage properties were investigated. The results show that, when compared with ZnMoO4 electrode, ZnMoO4/G composite exhibits higher specific capacity, better cycling perform...

A novel porous carbon material using the spongy tissue of sunflower as raw material is reported for the first time. The obtained porous carbon has an extremely high surface area of 2493.0 m² g⁻¹, which is beneficial to focus on encapsulating selenium in it and have an inhibiting effect about diffusion of polyselenides over the charge/discharge proc...

Polycrystalline K2Ti8O17 is prepared by hydrothermal reaction of (BuO)4Ti and KOH in a 1:1 mixture of ethylene glycol and H2O (autoclave, 200 °C, 20 h) followed by calcination in air (700 °C, 12 h).

Nanocubic KTi2(PO4)3 is hydrothermally synthesized from an aqueous mixture of TiO2, KH2PO4, and H3PO4 (autoclave, 180 °C, 48 h) followed by annealing (Ar flow, 500 °C, 4 h).

Novel nanocubic KTi2(PO4)3 was successfully fabricated via a facile hydrothermal method combined with a subsequent annealing treatment and further evaluated as an electrode material for potassium-ion batteries for the first time. For comparison, carbon-coated KTi2(PO4)3 obtained by a normal cane sugar-assisted method reveals improved electrochemica...

Novel K2Ti8O17 is successfully fabricated via a facile hydrothermal method combined with a subsequent annealing treatment and further evaluated as an anode material for potassium-ion batteries for the first time. This study may provide a broader vision into developing anode materials for potassium-ion batteries.

Novel O3-type Na0.8Ni0.6Sb0.4O2 is successfully fabricated via a solid-state method and further firstly used as cathode material for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). The as-obtained material delivers a high capacity of ~107.3 mAh g−1 in the voltage range of 2–4.5 V with two discharge plateaus at 3.24 and 3.62 V, and exhibits a good capacity retention (...

In this communication, we designed and synthesized a novel calcium-organic framework and presented it as an anode material for sodium-ion batteries. The results show that it delivers a reversible capacity of higher than 140 mA h g(-1) even after 300 cycles. The remarkable performance is attributed to the high structural stability and extremely low...

MoS2 nanotubes (denoted as MoS2 NTs) assembled from well-aligned amorphous carbon-modified ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets (denoted as MoS2 NT@C) were successfully fabricated via a facile solvothermal method combined with subsequent annealing treatment. With the assistance of octylamine as a solvent and carbon source, interconnected MoS2 nanosheets (deno...

Carbon-coated NaTi2(PO4)3 nanoparticles are prepared by self-extinguishable combustion of an ethylene glycol solution containing a 1:3 molar mixture of Na(OAc) and H3PO4 to which Ti(OBu)4 is given dropwise.

NaTi2(PO4)3 nanoparticles were synthesized by a facile polyol-assisted pyro-synthetic reaction. The nitrogen sorption isotherm of the synthesized material shows a surface area of 110.787 m2 g-1, in comparison to 20.984 m2 g-1 for pristine material obtained by solid state method. Moreover, the as-prepared material exhibits much higher capacity, bett...

Fe2(MoO4)3@reduced graphene oxide (FMO@rGO) composite have been synthesized by precipitation-hydrothermal method. Herein, the graphene oxide in the present synthesis acts not only as baffles between particle and particle that helps to prevent the increase of particle size, but also as conductive networks after hydrothermal treatment, providing high...

A novel Na7Fe4.5(P2O7)4 compound was fabricated as a cathode for sodium-ion batteries by a mechanical milling assisted solid state method for the first time. The as-prepared material exhibits superior electrochemical performance based on half-cell testing. After uniform carbon coating, it exhibits lower electrochemical polarization, better conducti...

A composite of selenium (Se) and a rich porous carbon material (PCM) with mesopores from silk cocoons is explored as a cathode for lithium-selenium (Li-Se) batteries for the first time. Elemental selenium is homogeneously dispersed inside the mesopores of the PCM by a melt-diffusion method based on several analyses. The synthetic PCM/Se composite c...

A novel Na0.56Ti1.72Fe0.28O4 material is explored as an anode in Na-ion batteries for the first time. It delivers a reversible discharge capacity of 210.3 mA h g−1 at 20 mA g−1 in Na-ion batteries, exhibiting good capacity retention at a cut-off voltage of 0.01–3 V.

A novel book-like K0.23V2O5 crystal is obtained by a simple hydrothermal method and is explored as a cathode material for Li-ion batteries for the first time. It exhibits a high reversible capacity (of ca. 244 mA h g(-1) at a current density of 50 mA g(-1)), along with a good rate capability (80 mA h g(-1) at a current density of 1800 mA g(-1)) and...

Na6.24Fe4.88(P2O7)4@porous graphene composite is fabricated as a cathode of Na-ion batteries for the first time by a hydrothermally assisted sol-gel process. In comparison to non-porous and pristine composites, the as-prepared material exhibits much higher capacity and better rate performance, which are mainly attributed to the high conductivity an...

Na3.12Fe2.44(P2O7)2/multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) composite was fabricated by a solid state reaction and was further used to fabricate a cathode for sodium-ion batteries. The electrochemical behaviors were thoroughly investigated in assembled non-aqueous Na3.12Fe2.44(P2O7)2/MWCNT//Na cells, showing higher specific capacity (over 100 mA h g−1...

P2-type Na0.67Ni0.33Ti0.67O2 is explored as a titanium-based anode material for sodium ion batteries. The as-prepared Na0.67Ni0.33Ti0.67O2 delivers a reversible capacity of 129.2 mAh g−1 at 0.05 C with smooth charge-discharge curves. A simple carbon-coating technique was used to improve the electronic conductivity of Na0.67Ni0.33Ti0.67O2 particles....

A worm-like ultralong MoS2 nanostrures was assembled by a solvent-mediation via controlling ratio of the commponents of the miscible precusor solution in a facile solvothermal process, and the formation mechanism of worm-like MoS2 nanostructure was presented. the above sample was further used as an anode in sodium ion batteries, delivering a good d...

A novel NaTi3FeO8 material is explored as an anode for sodium-ion batteries for the first time. It delivers a reversible discharge capacity of 170.7 mA h g-1 at 20 mA g-1 in a sodium half cell, exhibiting good capacity retention at a cut-off voltage of 0.01 ~ 3 V.

Uniform carbon embedded nano-scaled NaVPO4F precursor with 3~5 nm is fabricated by a hydrothermal method and using vitamin C as the carbon source and reducing agent, followed a sintering process, the carbon embedded NaVPO4F precursors transformed to a kind of 3D porous interconnected NaVPO4F/C network. As a Na-ion battery cathode material, the NaVP...

Na2.65Ti3.35Fe0.65O9 rods were prepared by a simple solid-state route and coated with carbon to enhance their electronic conductivity. For the first time, Na2.65Ti3.35Fe0.65O9 was explored as an anode material for Na-ion batteries to deliver a discharge capacity of 137.5 mA h g(-1) at a current rate of 40 mA g(-1). The charge/discharge capacity of...

Novel ultra-long Na0.44MnO2 submicron slabs were fabricated through the sol–gel method, followed by high-temperature calcination. The material has a thickness ranging from 100 to 250 nm and a length varying from 10 μm to 40 μm. Electrochemical characterization indicates that the material can deliver a high capacity, larger than 120 mA h g−1 with st...

Sodium manganese oxides (SMO) with different crystal structures have been synthesized by high-temperature solid-state reaction (HTSSR), in which both morphology and crystal structure of SMO can be well-controlled by synergistic effects of both the ratio of sodium-to-manganese and the heat-treatment temperature. The material is further used as the c...

A facile and effective redox reaction is developed to build various morphologies and crystal phases of manganese-based compounds by using two kinds of raw material, D-maltose and KMnO4. Interestingly, not only different morphologies, but also different crystal phases could be precisely tailored by adjusting the mass ratio of D-maltose to KMnO4. Aft...