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Using Si as anode materials for Li-ion batteries remain challenging due to its morphological evolution and SEI modification upon cycling. The present work aims at developing a composite consisting of carbon-coated Si nanoparticles (Si@C NPs) intimately embedded in a three-dimensional (3D) graphene hydrogel (GHG) architecture to stabilize Si inside LiB electrodes. Instead of simply mixing both components, the novelty of the synthesis procedure lies in the in situ hydrothermal process, which was shown to successfully yield graphene oxide reduction, 3D graphene assembly production, and homogeneous distribution of Si@C NPs in the GHG matrix. Electrochemical characterizations in half-cells, on electrodes not containing additional conductive additive, revealed the importance of the protective C shell to achieve high specific capacity (up to 2200 mAh.g−1), along with good stability (200 cycles with an average Ceff > 99%). These performances are far superior to that of electrodes made with non-C-coated Si NPs or prepared by mixing both components. These observations highlight the synergetic effects of C shell on Si NPs, and of the single-step in situ preparation that enables the yield of a Si@C-GHG hybrid composite with physicochemical, structural, and morphological properties promoting sample conductivity and Li-ion diffusion pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work deals with electroactive conducting polymers (ECPs) used as a complementary component on purely capacitive silicon nanowires protected by a 3 nm alumina layer. Accordingly, in this work, we use a fast and simple deposition method to create a pseudocapacitive material based on the electropolymerization in aqueous micellar media (SDS and SDBS 0.01 M) of hydroxymethyl-EDOT (EDOT-OH) onto 3 nm alumina-coated silicon nanowires (Al3@SiNWs). The composite material displays remarkable capacitive behavior with a specific capacitance of 4.75 mF·cm−2 at a current density of 19 µA·cm−2 in aqueous Na2SO4 electrolyte. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silicon nanotrees (SiNTrs) have been grown by Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) via gold catalysis and a three steps process: trunks and branches growth are separated by a new gold catalyst deposition. The influence of growth conditions and the second gold catalyst deposition method on SiNTrs morphology are investigated. SiNTrs based electrodes show a capacitive behavior and better capacitance than the corresponding silicon nanowires (SiNWs) electrode. Electrode capacitance is increased up to 900 µF cm-2, i.e. 150 fold higher than for bulk silicon. Micro-supercapacitors with SiNTrs electrodes have a remarkable stability (only 1.2% loses of their initial capacitance after more than one million cycles). The use of an ionic liquid based electrolyte leads to a high maximum power density (around 225 mW cm-2) which is competitive with Onion Like Carbon based micro-supercapacitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building of hierarchical core-shell hetero-structures is currently the subject of intensive research in the electrochemical field owing to its potential for making improved electrodes for high-performance micro-supercapacitors. Here we report a novel architecture design of hierarchical MnO2@silicon nanowires (MnO2@SiNWs) hetero-structures directly supported onto silicon wafer coupled with Li-ion doped 1-Methyl-1-propylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluromethylsulfonyl)imide (PMPyrrBTA) ionic liquids as electrolyte for micro-supercapacitors. A unique 3D mesoporous MnO2@SiNWs in Li-ion doped IL electrolyte can be cycled reversibly across a voltage of 2.2 V and exhibits a high areal capacitance of 13 mFcm−2. The high conductivity of the SiNWs arrays combined with the large surface area of ultrathin MnO2 nanoflakes are responsible for the remarkable performance of these MnO2@SiNWs hetero-structures which exhibit high energy density and excellent cycling stability. This combination of hybrid electrode and hybrid electrolyte opens up a novel avenue to design electrode materials for high-performance micro-supercapacitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geminate recombination of bound polaron pairs at the donor/acceptor interface is one of the major loss mechanisms in organic bulk heterojunction solar cells. One way to overcome Coulomb attraction between opposite charge carriers and to achieve their full dissociation is the introduction of high dielectric permittivity materials such as nanoparticles of narrow band gap semiconductors. We selected CuInS2 nanocrystals of 7.4 nm size, which present intermediate energy levels with respect to poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and Phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM). Efficient charge transfer from P3HT to nanocrystals takes place as evidenced by light-induced electron spin resonance. Charge transfer between nanocrystals and PCBM only occurs after replacing bulky dodecanethiol (DDT) surface ligands with shorter 1,2-ethylhexanethiol (EHT) ligands. Solar cells containing in the active layer a ternary blend of P3HT:PCBM:CuInS2-EHT nanocrystals in 1:1:0.5 mass ratio show strongly improved short circuit current density and a higher fill factor with respect to the P3HT:PCBM reference device. Complementary measurements of the absorption properties, external quantum efficiency and charge carrier mobility indicate that enhanced charge separation in the ternary blend is at the origin of the observed behavior. The same trend is observed for blends using the glassy polymer poly(triarylamine) (PTAA). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]