Topic > Synthesis and electrochemical characterization of niobium pentoxide/carbon nanotube composites

In recent years, a range of applications for energy storage devices has expanded from portable electronics to large-scale energy storage systems, including renewable energy storage and electric transport [1,2]. To meet the energy and power density requirements for energy applications, many researchers have paid attention to the synthesis of oxide-based nanomaterials due to their chemical, physical, optical and electronic properties [1–4]. In this way, niobium pentoxide (Nb2O5) is a promising candidate due to its semiconductor properties with a band gap of ~ 3.4 eV, n-type, low toxicity, surface acidity and good chemical and thermal stability [3,5 –8] . It has been demonstrated that Nb2O5 can provide high power through a mainly pseudocapacitive reaction of lithium ions (Li+), which could occur not only on the surface but also in most Nb2O5 nanocrystals in the non-aqueous Li+ electrolyte [2,9]. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get original essay Furthermore, the pseudo-capacitive behavior of the intercalation strongly depended on the presence of a crystalline structure, where amorphous and pseudo-hexagonal (TT-Nb2O5) showed lower specific capacitance values ​​than the orthorhombic phase (T-Nb2O5), however, aggregation of nanoparticles is inevitable due to the high calcination temperature (>600 °C) for the formation of the orthorhombic phase of Nb2O5 [10–17]. However, the application of Nb2O5 has been hindered by low bulk electrical conductivity (~3.4×10-6 S.cm-1 at 300 K) and difficult control of the ideal crystal structure [3,10,11]. Therefore, when T-Nb2O5 nanocrystals were fabricated in a relatively thick electrode, the energy performance would be limited due to reduced electron mobility. A possible effective method to ameliorate these adversities in Nb2O5 is through surface modifications (e.g., carbon coating), which could expose more redox-active nanoparticles to the electrolyte and greatly improve the electronic conductivity [1,3,11–13]. It should be noted that the introduction of multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) networks can enhance the electron transport of Nb2O5 and further improve the rate capability. Physical mixing of MWCNTs and Nb2O5 nanoparticles can fabricate composites with improved conductivity, but this type of mixing fails to satisfy good interfacial interaction between MWCNTs and Nb2O5 [3]. Therefore, soft chemistry methods such as the peroxo-oxidant method combined with hydrothermal treatment and microwave heating could be a promising alternative for niobium synthesis, mainly because it is performed at low temperatures that avoid the elimination of hydroxyl groups in the surfaces thus formed resulting in a material with high surface area and greater number of acidic sites [6,18,19]. Furthermore, carbon materials have good absorption of microwave radiation, which facilitates interaction with other particles [20]. The use of niobium oxides for energy storage devices is already well known and exploited [21] but its performance is only achieved by a supercapacitor hybrid based on lithium intercalation processes [21] where high energy values ​​are obtained and power density. These intercalation processes require the application of potentials between 1 and 3 V relative to Li/Li+, an accurate and moisture-free assembly scheme, and non-aqueous electrolytes [16]. In this work, niobium pentoxide with different structures and morphologies was grown on the-2.