Jingjing Liu,Bo Ren,Yedong Rong,Yi Zhao,Lu Wang,Yuju Lu,Chao Wang,Guolong Sang,Jinlong Yang
Engineering high performance cellular ceramics with both ultralow density and satisfactory compressive strength for practical applications still represents a grand challenge. Herein, alumina-based cellular ceramics bonded by in-situ formed mullite phase were constructed by Al 2 O 3 –Si-boehmite particle-stabilized foams. The gelation of boehmite sol improved the stability and harnessed the deformation of dried Al 2 O 3 –Si composite foam. The oxidation of silicon and further generation of in-situ mullite phase enhanced the chemical bond between alumina particles on cell walls, resulting in the superior mechanical properties. As an exemplar, the resulting cellular ceramic possessed the robust compressive strength of 2.26 MPa at a high porosity of 87.8%. The gelation-assisted Al 2 O 3 –Si particle-stabilized foams provide a facile and convenient strategy for construction of composite ceramic foams with high porosity and robust strength.
Wang Wei,Guan Mingyu,Wang Qinghua,Chen Yangyang,Chen Liang,Yin Hong,Zhu Yucan,Li Gangyong,Hou Zhaohui
ZnS is a promising material for lithium-ion battery anodes due to its abundant natural resources, simplicity of synthesis, and high theoretical lithium storage capacity. However, it needs to be optimized for its low conductivity and volume effect during the charge–discharge process. The traditional method of combining with carbonaceous materials is usually laborious, and the required sulfuration process may possibly result in the destruction of materials morphology. In this study, hybrid materials formed by the combination of ZnS nanocrystals and high porosity carbon fibers were synthesized by one-step electrospinning using zinc diethyldithiocarbamate and polyacrylonitrile as raw materials and poly (ethylene glycol)—block-poly (propylene glycol)—block-poly (ethylene glycol) as template. The method is simple and avoids the influence of sulfuration process on the morphology of materials. The composite presents a specific capacity of 592.2 mAh g −1 under a current density of 1 A g −1 after 1000 cycles. The porous structure significantly decreases the diffusion mean-free path of Li + and inhibits the volume effect associated with the lithium storage process of ZnS. In addition, the 3D cross-linked carbon fibers improve the conductivity of materials. This study can serve as an inspiration for the development of other lithium storage composites.