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- All Subjects: Materials Science
- Genre: Doctoral Dissertation
Description
Thiol functionalization is one potentially useful way to tailor physical and chemical properties of graphene oxides (GOs) and reduced graphene oxides (RGOs). Despite the ubiquitous presence of thiol functional groups in diverse chemical systems, efficient thiol functionalization has been challenging for GOs and RGOs, or for carbonaceous materials in general. In this work, thionation of GOs has been achieved in high yield through two new methods that also allow concomitant chemical reduction/thermal reduction of GOs; a solid-gas metathetical reaction method with boron sulfides (BxSy) gases and a solvothermal reaction method employing phosphorus decasulfide (P4S10). The thionation products, called "mercapto reduced graphene oxides (m-RGOs)", were characterized by employing X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction, UV-Vis spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, electron probe analysis, scanning electron microscopy, (scanning) transmission electron microscopy, nano secondary ion mass spectrometry, Ellman assay and atomic force microscopy. The excellent dispersibility of m-RGOs in various solvents including alcohols has allowed fabrication of thin films of m-RGOs. Deposition of m-RGOs on gold substrates was achieved through solution deposition and the m-RGOs were homogeneously distributed on gold surface shown by atomic force microscopy. Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films of m-RGOs were obtained by transferring their Langmuir films, formed by simple drop casting of m-RGOs dispersion on water surface, onto various substrates including gold, glass and indium tin oxide. The m-RGO LB films showed low sheet resistances down to about 500 kΩ/sq at 92% optical transparency. The successful results make m-RGOs promising for applications in transparent conductive coatings, biosensing, etc.
ContributorsJeon, Kiwan (Author) / Seo, Dong-Kyun (Thesis advisor) / Jones, Anne K (Committee member) / Yarger, Jeffery (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
This work describes the investigation of novel cathode and anode materials. Specifically, several mixed polyanion compounds were evaluated as cathodes for Li and Na-ion batteries. Clathrate compounds composed of silicon or germanium arranged in cage-like structures were studied as anodes for Li-ion batteries.
Nanostructured Cu4(OH)6SO4 (brochantite) platelets were synthesized using polymer-assisted titration and microwave-assisted hydrothermal methods. These nanostructures exhibited a capacity of 474 mAh/g corresponding to the full utilization of the copper redox in an conversion reaction. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies were preformed to understand the mechanism and structural changes.
A microwave hydrothermal synthesis was developed to prepare a series compounds based on jarosite, AM3(SO4)2(OH)6 (A = K, Na; M = Fe, V). Both the morphology and electrochemical properties showed a compositional dependence. At potentials >1.5 V vs. Li/Li+, an insertion-type reaction was observed in Na,Fe-jarosite but not in K,Fe-jarosite. Reversible insertion-type reactions were observed in both vanadium jarosites between 1 – 4 V with capacities around 40 - 60 mAh/g. Below 1 V vs. Li/Li+, all four jarosite compounds underwent conversion reactions with capacities ~500 mAh/g for the Fe-jarosites.
The electrochemical properties of hydrogen titanium phosphate sulfate, H0.4Ti2(PO4)2.4(SO4)0.6 (HTPS), a new mixed polyanion material with NASICON structure was reported. A capacity of 148 mAh/g corresponding to2 Li+ insertion per formula unit was observed. XRD and XPS were used to characterize the HTPS before and after cycling and to identify the lithium sites. Evaluation of the HTPS in Na-ion cell was also performed, and a discharge capacity of 93 mAh/g was observed.
A systematic investigation of the role of the processing steps, such as ball-milling and acid/base etching, on the electrochemical properties of a silicon clathrate compound with nominal composition of Ba8Al16Si30 was performed. According to the transmission electron microscope (TEM), XPS, and electrochemical analysis, very few Li atoms can be electrochemically inserted, but the introduction of disorder through ball-milling resulted in higher capacity, while the oxidation layer made by the acid/base treatment prevented the reation. The electrochemical property of germanium clathrate was also investigated, unlike the silicon clathrate, the germanium one underwent a conversion reaction.
Nanostructured Cu4(OH)6SO4 (brochantite) platelets were synthesized using polymer-assisted titration and microwave-assisted hydrothermal methods. These nanostructures exhibited a capacity of 474 mAh/g corresponding to the full utilization of the copper redox in an conversion reaction. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies were preformed to understand the mechanism and structural changes.
A microwave hydrothermal synthesis was developed to prepare a series compounds based on jarosite, AM3(SO4)2(OH)6 (A = K, Na; M = Fe, V). Both the morphology and electrochemical properties showed a compositional dependence. At potentials >1.5 V vs. Li/Li+, an insertion-type reaction was observed in Na,Fe-jarosite but not in K,Fe-jarosite. Reversible insertion-type reactions were observed in both vanadium jarosites between 1 – 4 V with capacities around 40 - 60 mAh/g. Below 1 V vs. Li/Li+, all four jarosite compounds underwent conversion reactions with capacities ~500 mAh/g for the Fe-jarosites.
The electrochemical properties of hydrogen titanium phosphate sulfate, H0.4Ti2(PO4)2.4(SO4)0.6 (HTPS), a new mixed polyanion material with NASICON structure was reported. A capacity of 148 mAh/g corresponding to2 Li+ insertion per formula unit was observed. XRD and XPS were used to characterize the HTPS before and after cycling and to identify the lithium sites. Evaluation of the HTPS in Na-ion cell was also performed, and a discharge capacity of 93 mAh/g was observed.
A systematic investigation of the role of the processing steps, such as ball-milling and acid/base etching, on the electrochemical properties of a silicon clathrate compound with nominal composition of Ba8Al16Si30 was performed. According to the transmission electron microscope (TEM), XPS, and electrochemical analysis, very few Li atoms can be electrochemically inserted, but the introduction of disorder through ball-milling resulted in higher capacity, while the oxidation layer made by the acid/base treatment prevented the reation. The electrochemical property of germanium clathrate was also investigated, unlike the silicon clathrate, the germanium one underwent a conversion reaction.
ContributorsZhao, Ran (Author) / Chan, Candace K. (Thesis advisor) / Buttry, Daniel (Committee member) / Yarger, Jeffery (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
In disordered soft matter system, amorphous and crystalline components might be coexisted. The interaction between the two distinct structures and the correlation within the crystalline components are crucial to the macroscopic property of the such material. The spider dragline silk biopolymer, is one of such soft matter material that exhibits exceptional mechanical strength though its mass density is considerably small compare to structural metal. Through wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS), the research community learned that the silk fiber is mainly composed of amorphous backbone and $\beta$-sheet nano-crystals. However, the morphology of the crystalline system within the fiber is still not clear. Therefore, a combination of small-angle X-ray scattering experiments and stochastic simulation is designed here to reveal the nano-crystalline ordering in spider silk biopolymer. In addition, several density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed to help understanding the interaction between amorphous backbone and the crystalline $\beta$-sheets.
By taking advantage of the prior information obtained from WAXS, a rather crude nano-crystalline model was initialized for further numerical reconstruction. Using Markov-Chain stochastic method, a hundreds of nanometer size $\beta$-sheet distribution model was reconstructed from experimental SAXS data, including silk fiber sampled from \textit{Latrodectus hesperus}, \textit{Nephila clavipes}, \textit{Argiope aurantia} and \textit{Araneus gemmoides}. The reconstruction method was implemented using MATLAB and C++ programming language and can be extended to study a broad range of disordered material systems.
By taking advantage of the prior information obtained from WAXS, a rather crude nano-crystalline model was initialized for further numerical reconstruction. Using Markov-Chain stochastic method, a hundreds of nanometer size $\beta$-sheet distribution model was reconstructed from experimental SAXS data, including silk fiber sampled from \textit{Latrodectus hesperus}, \textit{Nephila clavipes}, \textit{Argiope aurantia} and \textit{Araneus gemmoides}. The reconstruction method was implemented using MATLAB and C++ programming language and can be extended to study a broad range of disordered material systems.
ContributorsMou, Qiushi (Author) / Yarger, Jeffery (Thesis advisor) / Benmore, Chris (Committee member) / Holland, Gregory (Committee member) / Ros, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015