Innovating Flexible Lithium-Ion Battery Design through Hybrid Mo2C Nanoparticles on Vertically-Oriented Graphene Nanowalls for Enhanced PerformanceGhulam Farid a, b, Roger Amade a, b, Stefanos Chaitoglou a, b, Islam Alshaikh a, b, Rogelio Ospina a, b, c, Yang Ma a, b, Enric Bertran-Serra a, ba Department of Applied Physics, University of Barcelona, C/Martí i Franquès, 1, 08028 Barcelona, Catalunya, Spainb ENPHOCAMAT Group, Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (IN2UB), University of Barcelona, C/ Martí i Franquès, 1, 08028 Barcelona, Catalunya, Spainc Escuela de Física, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Carrera 27 calle 9 Ciudad Universitaria Bucaramanga, ColombiaMaterials for Sustainable Development Conference (MATSUS)Proceedings of MATSUS Spring 2024 Conference (MATSUS24)#GENBAT - Next-generation battery technologies towards sustainabilityBarcelona, Spain, 2024 March 4th - 8thOrganizers: REBECA MARCILLA, Cristina Pozo-Gonzalo and Magda TitiriciOral, Ghulam Farid, presentation 128DOI: https://doi.org/10.29363/nanoge.matsus.2024.128Publication date: 18th December 2023Flexible lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have garnered significant attention as essential power sources for wearable and flexible electronic devices [1-6]. Despite the increasing interest, achieving optimal flexibility, mechanical stability, and high energy density in flexible LIBs remains a formidable challenge. This study explores the potential of molybdenum carbide (Mo2C) [7] and vertically-oriented graphene nanowalls (VGNWs) as anode materials for Lithium-Ion batteries. A bottom-up synthesis approach is employed, involving the deposition of Mo carbide nanostructures on VGNWs using chemical vapor deposition, magnetron sputtering, and thermal annealing processes, followed by in-situ carburization via thermal annealing, resulting in binder-free hybrid electrodes. The resulting Mo2C/VGNWs hybrids exhibit exceptional structural durability, small particle size, and a porous configuration, promoting enhanced electron and ion accessibility at the electrode-electrolyte interface. SEM results demonstrate varied Mo carbide morphologies based on annealing time, while TEM analyses reveal uniformly anchored Mo2C nanoparticles on VGNWs. Electrochemical tests reveal that Mo2C/VGNWs hybrids outperform VGNWs/Papyex® electrodes in lithium storage behavior. Evaluation of the Mo2C/VGNW hybrid electrode as a LIB anode material demonstrates superior electrochemical performance compared to VGNWs/Papyex® electrodes. The Mo2C/VGNW hybrid electrode exhibits a higher first discharge capacity (0.23 mA·h·cm−2) compared to VGNWs/Papyex® (0.11 mA·h·cm−2) at 1C scan rate. Furthermore, the Mo2C/VGNW electrode maintains a reversible specific capacity of 0.005 mA·h·cm−2 after 200 cycles, while the VGNWs/Papyex® electrode shows a significantly lower capacity of 0.001 mAh cm−2 after the same cycles. The synergistic effects of Mo2C nanoparticles and highly conductive VGNWs contribute to the superior electrochemical characteristics, positioning the Mo2C/VGNWs hybrid structure as a promising candidate for high-performance and flexible energy storage devices. Notably, the Mo2C/VGNW hybrid electrode demonstrates a progressively increasing coulombic efficiency from 30% to 90.4% in the first 50 cycles, followed by stable performance. The dynamic interactions between Mo2C nanoparticles and the highly conductive VGNW support contribute to the superior electrochemical performance. This study presents a promising synthesis approach for developing highly efficient and flexible energy storage devices through other carbide/VGNW hybrids. References:[1] J.M. Tarascon, M. Armand, Issues and challenges facing rechargeable lithium batteries, Nature, 414 (2001) 359-367.[2] S. Megahed, B. Scrosati, Lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, Journal of Power Sources, 51 (1994) 79-104[3] W.V. Schalkwijk, B. Scrosati, Advances in lithium ion batteries introduction, in: Advances in Lithium-Ion Batteries, Springer, 2002, pp. 1-5[4] G. Farid, G. Murtaza, M. Umair, H.S. Arif, H.S. Ali, N. Muhammad, M. Ahmad, Effect of La-doping on the structural, morphological and electrochemical properties of LiCoO2 nanoparticles using Sol-Gel technique, Materials Research Express, 5 (2018) 055044[5] K.T. Nam, D.-W. Kim, P.J. Yoo, C.-Y. Chiang, N. Meethong, P.T. Hammond, Y.-M. Chiang, A.M. Belcher, Virus-enabled synthesis and assembly of nanowires for lithium ion battery electrodes, science, 312 (2006) 885-888[6] V.L. Pushparaj, M.M. Shaijumon, A. Kumar, S. Murugesan, L. Ci, R. Vajtai, R.J. Linhardt, O. Nalamasu, P.M. Ajayan, Flexible energy storage devices based on nanocomposite paper, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 104 (2007) 13574-13577[7] M. Chen, J. Zhang, Q. Chen, M. Qi, X. Xia, Construction of reduced graphene oxide supported molybdenum carbides composite electrode as high-performance anode materials for lithium ion batteries, Materials Research Bulletin, 73 (2016) 459-464.Acknowledgements:The authors acknowledge financial support from projects PID2020-116612RB-C32, PDC2021-121868-C21, C22, TED2021-132070B-C21, TED2021-131442B-C33 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and, as appropriate, by "ERDF A way of making Europe", by the "European Union" or by the "European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR". The ENPHOCAMAT group acknowledges support from the AGAUR of Generalitat de Catalunya, Project No. 2021SGR00936. One author (R.O.) acknowledgse the financial support from the Requalification of the Spanish University System 2021-23 program funded by the Next Generation EU program through the Ministery of Universuties of Spanish Government. Another author (S.C.) acknowledges support from the postdoctoral fellowhips programme Beatriu de Pinós, funded by the Secretary of Universities and Research (Government of Catalonia) and by the Horizon 2020 programme of research and innovation of the European Union under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 801370 (H2020-MSCA-COFUND-2017).One author (G.F.) acknowledges the support from the predoctoral fellowship PREDOCS-UB (APIF) funded by the MICINN of Spanish Government. Another author (Y.M.) acknowledges the support from the predoctoral fellowship funded by the Chinese Scientific Fellowship programme of the Chinese Government. © FUNDACIO DE LA COMUNITAT VALENCIANA SCITOnanoGe is a prestigious brand of successful science conferences that are developed along the year in different areas of the world since 2009. Our worldwide conferences cover cutting-edge materials topics like perovskite solar cells, photovoltaics, optoelectronics, solar fuel conversion, surface science, catalysis and two-dimensional materials, among many others.nanoGe Fall MeetingnanoGe Fall Meeting (NFM) is a multiple symposia conference celebrated yearly and focused on a broad set of topics of advanced materials preparation, their fundamental properties, and their applications, in fields such as renewable energy, photovoltaics, lighting, semiconductor quantum dots, 2-D materials synthesis, charge carriers dynamics, microscopy and spectroscopy semiconductors fundamentals, etc.nanoGe Spring MeetingThis conference is a unique series of symposia focused on advanced materials preparation and fundamental properties and their applications, in fields such as renewable energy (photovoltaics, batteries), lighting, semiconductor quantum dots, 2-D materials synthesis and semiconductors fundamentals, bioimaging, etc.International Conference on Hybrid and Organic PhotovoltaicsInternational Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (HOPV) is celebrated yearly in May. The main topics are the development, function and modeling of materials and devices for hybrid and organic solar cells. The field is now dominated by perovskite solar cells but also other hybrid technologies, as organic solar cells, quantum dot solar cells, and dye-sensitized solar cells and their integration into devices for photoelectrochemical solar fuel production.Asia-Pacific International Conference on Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics and OptoelectronicsThe main topics of the Asia-Pacific International Conference on Perovskite, Organic Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics (IPEROP) are discussed every year in Asia-Pacific for gathering the recent advances in the fields of material preparation, modeling and fabrication of perovskite and hybrid and organic materials. Photovoltaic devices are analyzed from fundamental physics and materials properties to a broad set of applications. The conference also covers the developments of perovskite optoelectronics, including light-emitting diodes, lasers, optical devices, nanophotonics, nonlinear optical properties, colloidal nanostructures, photophysics and light-matter coupling.International Conference on Perovskite Thin Film Photovoltaics Perovskite Photonics and OptoelectronicsThe International Conference on Perovskite Thin Film Photovoltaics Perovskite Photonics and Optoelectronics (NIPHO) is the best place to hear the latest developments in perovskite solar cells as well as on recent advances in the fields of perovskite light-emitting diodes, lasers, optical devices, nanophotonics, nonlinear optical properties, colloidal nanostructures, photophysics and light-matter coupling.