Electrochemical and electron microscopic characterization of Super-P based cathodes for Li–O₂ batteries

• Mario Marinaro,
• Santhana K. Eswara Moorthy,
• Jörg Bernhard,
• Ludwig Jörissen,
• Margret Wohlfahrt-Mehrens and
• Ute Kaiser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 665–670, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.74

• cells were prepared by airbrushing a suspension of Super-P (Timcal) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PvdF) in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (mass ratio Super-P/PvdF 8:2) on a gas diffusion layer (Toray paper). The obtained electrodes of 12 mm in diameter were first dried at 100 °C in order to allow the evaporation

AFM as an analysis tool for high-capacity sulfur cathodes for Li–S batteries

• Renate Hiesgen,
• Seniz Sörgel,
• Rémi Costa,
• Linus Carlé,
• Ines Galm,
• Natalia Cañas,
• Brigitta Pascucci and
• K. Andreas Friedrich

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 611–624, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.68

• samples prepared by either suspension-spraying or doctor-blade coating with different binders. Morphological studies of the cathodes before and after the electrochemical tests were performed by using AFM and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The cathodes that contained polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and

• ]. Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) binders were used to test the influence of the binders on the battery performance. The suspension-spraying technique is advantageous because it can be used in mass production processes. In a first step the focus was on the preparation of a porous

• the battery, whose cathode was coated by hand (doctor-blade coated, referred to as DBC-PVDF), has a high initial discharge capacity (872 mAh·g−1), the capacity decreases significantly upon cycling. After 50 cycles, the remaining capacity is only 242 mAh·g−1. This behaviour is quite typical for the Li

Single-pass Kelvin force microscopy and dC/dZ measurements in the intermittent contact: applications to polymer materials

• Sergei Magonov and
• John Alexander

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 15–27, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.2

• ) (PVAC) were prepared from their solutions in toluene. A thin film of a blend of PMMA with poly(vinyledenefluoride) (PVDF) blend was spin cast from its solution in 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone. The polymers with molecular weights in the 100–150 K range, solvents and ITO glass substrates were purchased from

• thin film of a PMMA and PVDF blend. The relation between the polymer morphology and material performance is the key question for polymer technology that reinforces the importance of compositional imaging. The film was prepared by spin-casting of PMMA and PVDF solutions, and the blend was formed during

• evaporation of the solvent and crystallization of PVDF. Therefore, dendritic structures observed on film surface represent crystalline PVDF. The dark surface potential contrast of the structures is consistent with the presence of a molecular dipole (~2.1 V) in this polymer and the preferential orientation of