Nanoconfined nitrogen-doped carbon-coated MnO nanoparticles in graphene enabling high performance for lithium-ion batteries and oxygen reduction reaction.

ABSTRACT: To tackle the issues of inferior cycling stability and low conductivity for MnO as an anode material for lithium ion batteries (LIBs) and as a catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), a facile and effective strategy is explored to confine N-doped carbon-coated MnO nanoparticles in a conductive graphene matrix. The synthesis of the GMNCs involves the two-step coating of Mn3O4 nanocrystals with polydopamine and graphene, followed by heat treatment to form the GNS@MnO@N-doped carbon composites (GMNCs). When evaluated as anode materials for LIBs, the as-prepared GMNCs exhibit an improved cycling stability (754.3 mA h g-1 after 350 cycles at 0.1 A g-1) compared to carbon-coated MnO and pure Mn3O4 due to the double carbon coating design. When evaluated as catalysts for ORR, the as-prepared GMNCs exhibit higher electrocatalytic activity than that of pure Mn3O4 and MnO catalysts, and superior stability to a commercial Pt/C catalyst due to the synergetic effect between the MnO and N-doped double carbon coating. The optimum design of the unique nanostructures with the synergetic effect provides a new route to design advanced materials as electrode/catalysts for energy conversion and storage.

SUBMITTER: Wang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6013824 | biostudies-other | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other