Investigation of Carbon-Based Materials Synthesized by Nano-Replication Method for Li-ion Battery and Non-Precious Metal Catalyst

Abstract

As a result of climate change caused by human activities such as fossil fuel use, people have begun research to solve environmental pollution. Many scientists are focusing on and studying alternative energy sources to reduce the use of fossil fuels. The strong candidates are batteries and fuel cells because batteries are already familiar and easy to apply. Fuel cells have additional functions such as eco-friendly final products and fine dust purification. In this study, the effect of the type of dopant and the length of pores of the carbon support of the lithium-ion battery was investigated. In addition, this study contributed to optimizing the non-precious metal catalyst conditions such as catalyst particle size, post-treatment, precursor composite ratio, and synthesis temperature. The both of carbon-based materials were synthesized by the nano-replication method to control particle size and pore structure. This method helped find factors related to battery and catalyst performance. As a result, N-doped carbon showed a better cycle life of Li-Se battery in case of battery and higher N content provide interaction between N doped carbon and Se. The small catalyst particle without agglomeration and impurities were excellent in performance because of electrolyte accessibility and the post-treatment catalyst showed the best performance because the post-treatment reduced 2-electron reaction site and promoted 4-electron reaction that is more effective and profer for fuel cell systems. The higher Fe content and optimized temperature enhanced the catalytic activity under the alkaline condition of ORR because the catalytic active site and conductivity.