Silicon anodes have the highest theoretical capacity in lithium-ion battreries, which, however, suffer from huge volume expansion with poor cyclic performance. To achieve good cyclic perfomrance, in this study, silicon film/highly branched graphene nanosheets (HBGNs) hybrid materials have been prepared via plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of HBGNs, followed by low vacuum chemical vapor deposition of Si. The HBGNs, with 3D-conductive graphene networks, provide a large surface area for Si loading and the densely packed vertical graphene structure offers void space for large volume expansion of Si. Therefore, the Si/HBGN anode exhibits a high capacity and good cyclic performance, emerging as a promissing binder- and conductive additive-free Si/C composite anode for lithium-ion batteries.
Advances in Plasmas for a Sustainable Future
Plasmas for a Sustainable Future
Welcome to Advances in Plasmas for a Sustainable Future. This is a special collection of research articles, review papers, and special issues, published in Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics on the exciting field of plasma for environmental and energy applications. Find out more here.
Meet the Topic Editors
Featured article
Watch Christopher Whitehead, leader in plasma catalysis and author of the Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics review 'Plasma–catalysis: the known knowns, the known unknowns and the unknown unknowns' discuss with Xin Tu about the future of plasma catalysis.
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Special Issue on Nitrogen
Fixation in Plasma:
From Fundamentals to
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environmental applications
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non-thermal plasmas -
Special Issue on Plasmas
in Electrical-to-Chemical
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Technologies -
The 2017 Plasma Roadmap:
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Editors' picks
Ethyl acetate (EA) is a popular solvent and diluent in many products and one of the most ubiquitous organic pollutants of indoor air. Although EA's ascertained toxicity is classified as low, exposure to its vapors at concentrations ⩾400 ppm causes serious problems in humans. EA is thus a frequent target in testing novel technologies for air purification. We report here an investigation of EA oxidative degradation in air at room temperature and atmospheric pressure induced by corona discharges. Three corona regimes, dc−, dc+ and pulsed +, were tested in the same reactor under various experimental conditions with regard to EA initial concentration (C0) and the presence of humidity in the system. The EA degradation process was monitored by gas chromatography (GC)–flame ionization detection, GC–mass spectrometry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis of the treated gas. These analyses yielded the concentration of residual EA (C) and those of its major products of oxidation (CO2, CO) and revealed a few organic reaction intermediates formed along the oxidation chain. The process energy efficiency was determined as energy constant, kE (kJ−1 l) and as energy yield, EY (g kW−1 h−1). The efficiency depends on the type of corona (pulsed + >dc− >dc+), on the presence of humidity in the air (improvement in the case of dc−, little or no effect for dc+) and on C0 (kE increases linearly with 1/C0). CO2 and CO were the major carbon containing products, confirming the strong oxidizing power of air non-thermal plasma. Acetic acid and acetaldehyde were detected in very small amounts as reaction intermediates. The experimental results obtained in this work support the conclusion that different reactive species are involved in the initial step of EA oxidation in the case of dc− and dc+ corona air non-thermal plasma.
Latest Topical reviews
Plasma-catalysis: the known knowns, the known unknowns and the unknown unknowns
J Christopher Whitehead 2016 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 49 243001
Plasma processes for the treatment of water contaminated with harmful organic compounds
M Magureanu et al 2017 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 51 313002
Towards high throughput plasma based water purifiers: design considerations and the pathway towards practical application
John E Foster et al 2018 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 51 293001
Discover more Topical reviews in JPhysD
Latest regular papers
Pooling through cooling: creating optimal vibrational non-equilibrium in CO2 by supersonic expansion
Kim Peerenboom et al 2017 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 50 195201
Streamer parameters and breakdown in CO2
M Seeger et al 2018 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 50 015207
In-liquid arc plasma jet and its application to phenol degradation
Jing-Lin Liu et al 2018 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 51 114005
Non-equilibrium excitation of CO2 in an atmospheric pressure helium plasma jet
T Urbanietz et al 2018 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 51 345202
Synthesis of cyanides in N2–CH4 discharge afterglow
J L Jauberteau and I Jauberteau 2018 J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 51 315201
Latest news on Plasmas for a Sustainable Future
Upcoming Special Issues
Special issue on plasma agriculture and food systems
Guest Editors Wonho Choe, Patrick Cullen, Nevena Puac