Author

Ruiqing Zhang

Date of Award

January 2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Chemical Engineering

First Advisor

Yun Ji

Second Advisor

Xiaodong Hou

Abstract

Because of lignin's renewable and low-cost characteristics, lignin-derived hard carbons have been extensively studied as electrode materials for energy storage applications. However, the formation of solid electrolyte interface (SEI) during the first cycle in electrode materials and the loss of lithium/sodium ions during long-term cycling has a fatal impact on the performance of batteries. Recent technology is needed to improve lignin-based electrode materials' initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE).

In this study, pre-lithiation/pre-sodiation through the spontaneous chemical reaction between the aryl etherification reagent was used to improve the low ICE of the lignin-based anode material. Our results show that the ICE of the lignin-based anode material can be significantly improved with only a few minutes of treatment. It indicates that the treated is a promising renewable electrode material for battery applications. It can be used in electrochemical energy storage and conversion devices, such as supercapacitors, fuel cells, etc.

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