Batteries

Resin curing coating is an effective approach to mitigate the intrinsic defects of lignocellulosic biomass-derived hard carbon, which facilitates its large-scale application in sodium-ion batteries due to their improved specific capacity, initial coulombic efficiency, and carbon yield. However, current traditional curing processes suffer from issues such as uneven cross-linking encapsulation and long curing cycles, significantly affecting the electrochemical performance of the derived carbon and production efficiency/cost. In this study, a phenolic resin solution impregnation combined with microwave-accelerated curing has been employed, and its curing process, along with the electrochemical performance of the derived carbon, was investigated. The results show that uniformly phenolic resin-coated bamboo could be achieved within 120 s. A dense cross-linked network not only leads to a high hard carbon yield and low specific surface area but also creates an abundant pseudographene-like structure with more closed pores. Under optimal crosslinking conditions, the obtained hard carbon sample shows a significantly enhanced reversible capacity (371.73 mAh g⁻¹) and high initial coulombic efficiency of 84.54%, far exceeding the bamboo-derived hard carbon (229.23 mAh g⁻¹, 74.90%) and the hard carbon sample prepared by traditional heating curing (304.31 mAh g⁻¹, 80.63%). Additionally, the designed sample displays excellent structural stability, maintaining 80% of their capacity after 500 cycles at a high current density of 300 mA g⁻¹. This fast and simple resin coating strategy shows great potential for the scalable synthesis of high-performance hard carbon anode materials.

In the original publication [...]

Electric vehicles are becoming more commonplace as we shift towards cleaner transportation. However, current charging infrastructure is immature, especially in remote and off-grid regions, making electric vehicle adoption challenging. This study presents an architecture for a standalone renewable energy-based electric vehicle charging station. The proposed renewable energy system comprises wind turbines, solar photovoltaic panels, fuel cells, and a hydrogen tank. As an energy storage system, second-life electric vehicle batteries are considered. This study investigates the feasibility and performance of the charging station with respect to two vastly different Canadian regions, Windsor, Ontario (urban), and Eagle Plains, Yukon (remote). In modeling these two regions using HOMER Pro software, this study concludes that due to its higher renewable energy availability, Windsor shows a net-present cost of $2.80 million and cost of energy of $0.201/kWh as compared to the severe climate of Eagle Plains, with a net-present cost of $3.61 million and cost of energy of $0.259/kWh. In both cases, we see zero emissions in off-grid configurations. A sensitivity analysis shows that system performance can be improved by increasing wind turbine hub heights and solar photovoltaic panel lifespans. With Canada’s goal of transitioning towards 100% zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035, this study provides practical insights regarding site-specific resource optimization for electric vehicle infrastructure that does not rely on grid energy. Furthermore, this study highlights a means to progress the sustainable development goals, namely goals 7, 9, and 13, through the development of more accessible electric vehicle charging stations.