Simple synthesis of carbon/tin oxide composite as anodes for lithium-ion batteries

Scopus : "Several carbon/tin oxide (C/Sn O2) composite anode materials are prepared through a novel and simple solution route. Powder x-ray diffraction and energy dispersive analysis of x-ray measurements confirm that the nanosized Sn O2 particles are homogeneously dispersed in the carbon matrix. Both the content of Sn O2 and the carbonization temperature play an important role on the electrochemical performance of the C/Sn O2 composites. The C/Sn O2 anode material with 47% Sn O2, carbonized at 600C, has the optimal electrochemical performance. This material exhibits an initial charge capacity of 643 mAh g-1 and an average reversible capacity of 518 mAh g-1 during 50 cycles at a current density of 50 mA g-1."

Li, M.-Y., Liu, C.-L., Wang, Y., Dong, W.-S.

Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, Shaanxi Normal University, Ministry of Education, Xi'an 710062, China

New Lithium-ion Battery Reportedly Ideal for Electric Cars

Environmental Protection: "The scientists developed a high-capacity nanostructured tin-carbon anode, or positive electrode, and a high-voltage lithium-ion cathode, the negative electrode. When the two parts are put together, the result is a high-performance battery with a high energy density and rate capacity. “On the basis of the performance demonstrated here, this battery is a top candidate for powering sustainable vehicles,” the researchers say.

Bruno Scrosati, Ph.D., at the University of Rome Sapienza; Yang-Kook Sun, and colleagues

Also here

Tin chloride enhances parvalbumin-positive interneuron survival by modulating heme metabolism in a model of cerebral ischemia

Scopus: "SnCl2 has been reported to increase the expression of heme-oxygenase 1 (HO-1), a major antioxidant enzyme, and to decrease ischemic injury, in non-nervous tissues.

This study examined the neuroprotective effect of SnCl2 in the hippocampus of rats submitted to cerebral ischemia. SnCl2 was administered 18 h before bilateral carotids obstruction. Changes in HO-1 expression and activity, heme content, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression and parvalbumin positive interneuron survival were studied. Thereafter both behavior and memory recovery were tested. The administration of SnCl2 increased the expression of HO-1 protein and HO activity in the hippocampus and concomitantly decreased heme content at both mitochondrial and nuclear level. Furthermore, ischemized animals showed a strong increase in iNOS expression in the hippocampus, where a loss of parvalbumin positive interneurons also occurred. Pre-treatment with SnCl2, decreased both iNOS expression in ischemized rats and increased cell survival. The beneficial effects of SnCl2 were prevented by concomitant treatment with SnMP, a strong inhibitor of HO activity. SnCl2 also caused an improvement in short term memory recovery. Our results showed that following SnCl2 administration, HO-1 is strongly induced in the hippocampus and modulate iNOS expression, resulting in a strong neuroprotective effect"

Tin Oxide Nano-Electrode Increases Current Density in Rechargeable Batteries

Fars News Agency: "Iranian scientists at Sharif University of Technology produced tin oxide nano-electrode to be used in micrometric rechargeable batteries to increase the batteries' efficiency."

'Tin oxide has wide applications in optoelectronic devices. If its nanocrystalline is charged with zinc, it will be able to increase the current and the efficiency of rechargeable lithium batteries,' Dr Seyed Khatib ol-Islam Sadrnejad, member of the Scientific Board of Sharif University of Technology, told INIC."

Among the achievements of this research, mention can be made of making easier the manufacturing process, reducing the cost of production, making the batteries thinner, increasing the batteries' current density and obtaining the required technology for the manufacturing of lithium micro-batteries in the country," he added.

Sadrnejad explained that the lithium micro-batteries consist of five parts, and reiterated, "Two parts make the connection with the outer circuit and three parts produce electricity. This research focuses on the production of one of those five parts, which is the anode."

"To this end, copper was coated on a glass plate at first and then it was vaporized. In the end, a layer of tin oxide containing 1% zinc was coated too. The obtained sample was thermally treated for a determined period, and nanometric oxide particles were produced."

Sadrnezhad also pointed to the fact that the anodes synthesized through this method are simpler and cheaper than the usual anodes and they possess desirable properties, and concluded, "We were able to reduce the thickness of the batteries up to about 10 micrometers."

ITO replacement market booming, says Information Network

digitimes: "While indium tin oxide (ITO) is widely used as the material for transparent electrodes in an assorted range of electronic devices including thin film photovoltaics, touch-screen displays, LCD panels, e-paper and electroluminescent (EL) panels, its leadership role as the dominant transparent conducting film is eroding, according to market researcher The Information Network.

'ITO commanded a market share of 97.6% in 2010 primarily because of flat panel and touch-screen displays,' noted Robert Castellano, president of The Information Network. 'ITO will lose share to 79.4% in 2016 on a unit basis.'"

Flexibility is a key factor and all new successful replacements for ITO offer flexibility, bendability and other characteristics superior to ITO even though transparency and electrical conductivity are slightly worse, The Information Network noted. Flexible films are important characteristics in touch panels, bendable e-paper and similar products, the firm added.

Non-ITO transparent conductors will remain dominant in the thin film solar cell market segment throughout the forecast period, according to The Information Network. High-flying thin film photovoltaics CdTe and CIGS mainly use alternatives. CdTe uses fluorine-doped tin oxide and CIGS uses aluminum-doped zinc oxide. ITO is not expected to make any increase to its fairly low market share. The more flexible alternatives (including polymers and carbon nanotubes) will make inroads into this market toward the latter part of the forecast period.

Baerlocher restarts metal and tin stabilizer production

European Plastics News: "Baerlocher Italia has completed the reconstruction of its manufacturing unit in Lodi, Italy, and will retart production of liquid stabilisers for tin and mixed metal.
“We have implemented the latest technologies, thus fulfilling in every respect the highest quality standards for the production of our range of liquid stabilizers“, says Agostino Savoldi, general manager of Baerlocher Italia."

Electrochemical mechanisms in tin-containing composite materials for negative electrodes in Li-ion batteries"

Scopus: "The Sn[BPO4]0.4 composite material is composed of three main constituents: the electrochemically active Sn0 species, the BPO4 buffer matrix, and an interfacial amorphous SnII borophosphate phase which acts as a link between the other two, improving the cohesion of the whole composite. In this paper, we report an investigation of the effect of the reaction time on structure and size of this interfacial layer formed between the Sn0 and the BPO4 particles. 119Sn Mössbauer spectroscopy shows an increase in the amount of the oxidized SnII species with the increase of the reaction time following a quasi-kinetic profile. Operando Mössbauer spectroscopy allowed the study of the transformation of the interface at the beginning of the first electrochemical cycle, indicating that the big irreversible loss during the first discharge is closely related to the increase of the amount of SnII in the amorphous interface

Conte, D.E.a , Stievano, L.a , Olivier-Fourcade, J.a , Jumas, J.-C.a , Willmann, P.b

a Institut Charles Gerhardt - AIME, Université Montpellier 2, 34095 Montpellier, France

b CNES, Centre Spatial de Toulouse, 31401 Toulouse, France