Quantum mechanics

Adsorption

Composite number

Engineering

Biology

Electrochemistry

Metallurgy

Materials science

Power (physics)

Carbon fibers

Chemical engineering

Food science

Porosity

Physical chemistry

Supercapacitor

Physics

Nanotechnology

Organic chemistry

Aspergillus oryzae

Energy storage

Microbiology

Spore

Composite material

Sulfur

Chemistry

Electrode

Electrochemical energy storage

Fermentation

Advanced Materials

Development of novel advanced carbon materials is playing a critical role in the innovation of electrochemical energy storage technology. Hierarchical porous spore carbon produced by Aspergillus oryzae is reported, which acts as a biofactory. Interestingly, the spore carbon not only shows a porous maze structure consisting of crosslinked nanofolds, but also is intrinsically N and P dual doped. Impressively, the spore carbon can be further embedded with Ni2 P nanoparticles, which serve as porogen to form a highly porous spore carbon/Ni2 P composite with increased surface area and enhanced electrical conductivity. To explore the potential application in lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs), the spore carbon/Ni2 P composite is combined with sulfur, forming a composite cathode, which exhibits a high initial capacity of 1347.5 mAh g-1 at 0.1 C, enhanced cycling stability (73.5% after 500 cycles), and better rate performance than the spore carbon/S and artificial hollow carbon sphere/S counterparts. The synergistic effect on suppressing the shuttle effect of intermediate polysulfides is responsible for the excellent LSBs performance with the aid of a physical blocking effect arising from the electrical maze porous structure and the chemical adsorption effect originating from N, P dual doping and polarized compound Ni2 P.

Spore Carbon from <i>Aspergillus Oryzae</i> for Advanced Electrochemical Energy Storage

Spore Carbon from Aspergillus Oryzae for Advanced Electrochemical Energy Storage