Improvements in the Electrochemical Properties of Electrode Materials and Applications for Energy Storage Devices: A Diversity of Nitrogen Doping Methods

Abstract

Integrating a nanostructured carbon array on a conductive substrate remains a challenging task that presently relies primarily on high-vacuum deposition technology. To overcome the problems associated with current vacuum techniques, the formation of a nitrogen doped carbon array was demonstrated by pyrolysis of a polymer array that was electrochemically grown on carbon fiber paper. The resulting carbon array was investigated for use as a supercapacitor electrode. In-depth surface characterization results revealed that the microtextural properties, surface functionalities, and degree of nitrogen incorporated into the nitrogen doped carbon array can be delicately controlled by manipulating carbonization temperatures. Furthermore, electrochemical measurements showed that subtle changes in these physical properties resulted in significant changes in the capacitive behavior of the nitrogen doped carbon array. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) has attracted as an anode electrode materials of lithium ion battery over the past decades. Despite many strengths such as low mass density and structural stability, TiO2 has serious limitations like poor conductivity and low practical capacity. The fresh route can control a spatial distribution of nitrogen throughout TiO2. The strategy induced new properties in terms of electron transfer and lithium ion mobility and simultaneously reinforced the electric and ionic conductivities. The result shows the importance of having a comprehensive understanding of how the nature of a doped nitrogen affects its electrochemical performance.