There's a lot of research on abandoning carbon as an energy source, but what if we put the carbon we're using to full use?
The importance of carbon as an energy source cannot be overlooked. Unfortunately, reliance on these carbon-based materials has proven disastrous for the environment, especially in terms of global consumption. Therefore, alternative methods must be studied. Superstructural carbon (SCC) is a possible way to use carbon in a more efficient and "green" way, which can exceed the performance and lifetime of standard materials currently found in energy storage and conversion equipment. Newbie Mentoring Program
The researchers recently published the findings in Energy Materials and Devices.
SCCS is multifaceted in terms of structure and performance, as well as in terms of overall concept. First of all, they are indeed carbon. While this may not seem like a step towards reducing overall carbon dependence, it's a more intentional approach to using carbon with more straightforward features that can lead to better performance and functionality.
"This unique material meets the special functional needs of high-performance equipment and goes beyond the rigid structure of traditional carbon materials," said Kong Debin, a researcher and author of the study. ”
SSCs are carbon-based materials that precisely construct the materials that interface with them, whether they are lithium-ion batteries, lithium sulfide batteries, or metal-air batteries.
The researchers proposed three main characteristics of these SCCs in order to be successfully developed and implemented: precisely tailored pores, freely adjustable frames, and highly coupled interfaces.
Compared to conventional carbon materials, those with well-designed pore structures offer unbeatable advantages in terms of surface utilization and mass transfer. In energy storage devices, such as batteries, the specific capacity of porous carbon as part of the active material has been significantly increased. Specific capacity, like the power transfer capacity of a material, is measured in terms of charge transport per gram of material, and is a key indicator for evaluating material properties. The freely adjustable frame structure, like the pulse of the material, provides a constant flow of power for the workflow inside the material, including the rapid electron transfer between the carbon unit and the electrode. It is as important as the heart is to the human body, and it is central to maintaining the efficient functioning of the system.
The highly coupled interface, which acts as a channel for electron transfer, allows the electrochemical reaction to occur more smoothly and avoids aggregation or the formation of nanoparticle clusters. The optimization of this interface plays a crucial role in improving the overall function and performance of the battery. Mr. Kong concluded: "The concept of SSCS, like a light that illuminates the night, provides us with a new way to solve the current problem facing carbon. This is of great significance for the future practical application of advanced carbon and its related high-performance energy equipment. "The researchers' goal is not only to improve the performance of carbon-based active materials through this review, but also to create new heights for carbon structure through continuous exploration. 
Breakthrough in performance is the ultimate goal they pursue, and they hope to push the boundaries of technology by breaking the bottleneck of energy conversion and storage performance. However, as their research deepened, they also understood that the road ahead is not always smooth sailing, and there will always be difficulties and challenges to face. They are well aware that different devices have their own unique needs. The relationship between lithium, lithium-sulfur and metal-air batteries and SCCS requires them to conduct in-depth research to ensure their applicability and compatibility. In addition, they also need a comprehensive evaluation of the cost and performance of SCCS before it can become a practical and widespread solution. Improving the preparation process and precursors, reducing costs and streamlining production were the next issues they needed to solve. At the same time, they need to further understand the overall understanding of the carbon microstructure and its structural evolution based on the carbon precursors used, which is essential for them to study and optimize the performance of SCCs. References: Debin Kong, Wei Lü, Ruliang Liu, Yanbing He, Dingcai Wu, Feng Li, Ruowen Fu, Quanhong Yang, and Feiyu Kang, Superstructured Carbon Materials: Design and Energy Applications, Energy, Materials and Devices.
Debin Kong, Wei Lü, Yanbing He, and Feiyu Kang from the Shenzhen Jim Graphene Center and Functionalized Carbon Materials Engineering Laboratory at Tsinghua University, Debin Kong from the School of New Energy at China University of Petroleum, Ruliang Liu, Dingcai Wu and Ruowen Fu from the Institute of Materials Science at Sun Yat-sen University, Feng Li from the Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Quanhong Yang from the Nano Yang team at the School of Chemical Engineering and Technology at Tianjin University all contributed to the study.
This research was supported by the National Basic Research Development Program of China, the National Natural Science Program of China, and the Taishan Scholars Program of Shandong Province.