Tailored Carbon Spherogel / Metal Oxide Hybrid Monoliths for Electrochemical Applications

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Volker Presser
• Subject Area: Solid State and Surface Chemistry, Material Synthesis ; Synthesis and Properties of Functional Materials
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 471780969

This project is located in the field of monolithic carbon aerogels, which are favored as high-performance electrode materials for electrochemical energy storage (e.g., supercapacitors). Monolithic carbon spherogels, solely built out of hollow spheres, recently discovered, feature a unique combination of properties, namely free-standing and reversibly compressible sample bulks with high surface areas, high electrochemical capacitances, and rate capabilities, and a distinct control of the material’s micromorphology. Furthermore, carbon spherogels show promise as hybrid carbon variants following the incorporation of metal oxides into the hollow spheres.Hypotheses/research questions/objectives. (A) The synthesis of free-standing, reversibly compressible carbon spherogels with extraordinarily high micro-network homogeneity and surface areas up to 2500 m2/g will be explored with regards to interior diameter size, wall thickness, and post-synthesis treatments. As direct targets in supercapacitors, their electrochemical performance under compression will be correlated to phenomena such as ion transport or charge propagation. (B) Implementation of metal oxides into the carbon spherogel scaffold (hybrid carbon spherogels) will be realized by the use of functional polystyrene spheres as a template or by co-condensation strategies. These hybrid spherogels will be explored for lithium-ion battery applications where the synergetic combination of carbon (conductive phase) and redox-active phase (non-carbon) is of high importance to achieve high performance and stable charge/discharge cycling.Approach/methods. The methodical strategy of the project contains sol-gel based synthesis of (hybrid) carbon spherogel materials, detailed analysis of the morphology, chemical composition, and pore structure as well as cell setup for electrochemical investigations for supercapacitor applications.Level of originality/innovation. Compared to common carbon aerogels based on resorcinol-formaldehyde, out templated synthesis route, discovered in 2019, to carbon spherogels offers a high potential method to a wide range of carbon morphologies with very narrow variance. Such highly homogeneous, monolithic carbons being concomitantly reversible compressible are up to now not known. In-depth electrochemical investigations will show their potential for future energy storage applications.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Austria
• Cooperation Partner: Dr. Michael Elsaesser