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Electrochemically induced deposition or ECiD can be defined as the deposition of compound films on a surface, as the result of chemical reactions in the near surface region between a precursor present in the bulk solution and an electrochemically generated precursor, mediator, or catalyst near that surface. The ECiD process has evolved from an odd curiosity into a thriving new branch in electrodeposition science. The library of materials synthesized by ECiD has been greatly expanded, along with the number of precipitation triggering knobs or tricks. Together with the breadth of possibilities and applications, the science behind the process has also accelerated. This article introduces the principle of the ECiD process for the electrodeposition of oxides, hydroxides, and compounds such as metal phosphates and metal-organic frameworks. The article discusses the mechanisms of these electrochemically induced deposition reactions as well as the pro-bases used to trigger the deposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To power the next generation of miniaturized electronic devices, the energy storage capability of Li-ion micro-batteries has to be significantly improved and the fabrication of high performance 3D electrodes is mandatory. Here we show how to carefully match the design of efficient 3D scaffold based on metallic porous template with the deposition parameters of titanium dioxide films made from thermal Atomic Layer Deposition method for designing efficient 3D electrodes for Li-ion micro-batteries. A 3D electrode made from Pt porous scaffold coated with 150 nm-thick anatase TiO2 film reaches a high surface capacity value up to 1600 μAh.cm−2 at C/12 with a good cycling stability during 100 cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nano-sized anatase (TiO2) and doped anatase (Mo0.1Ti0.9O2 and Nb0.25Ti0.75O2) materials (ca. 5 nm) were synthesized using continuous hydrothermal flow synthesis and evaluated as negative electrodes in Na-ion batteries and hybrid capacitors. Na-ion halfcells (vs. Na metal counter electrodes) for the Mo-doped titania (Mo0.1Ti0.9O2) and Nb-doped titania (Nb0.25Ti0.75O2) electrodes both showed significantly higher specific discharge capacities than undoped anatase (ca. 75 mAh g-1 compared to only 30 mAh g-1 for undoped TiO2 at 1 A g-1). This improved performance was attributed to higher pseudocapacitive contributions to charge storage, as well as improved sodium ion diffusion and lower charge transfer resistance. Na-ion hybrid electrochemical capacitors (Na-HECs) were made from the electrodes with activated carbon positive electrodes. As expected, Na-HECs using doped titania showed superior performance to the undoped anatase, with power densities up to 10.5 kW kg-1 or energy densities of over 60 Wh kg-1 (based on the weight of active material in both anode and cathode). TheMo0.1Ti0.9O2/AC Na-ion hybrid capacitor also showed excellent specific capacitance retention of ca. 75% over 3000 cycles at 5 mA cm-2 (1 A g-1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modification of electrode surface using borylated-thiophene monomer resulted in the formation of a pre-formed solid electrolyte interface (SEI). The obtained ready-to use anodes did not show any loss in capacity during the first few cycles of charging and discharging. Herein, we report the synthesis and utilization of boron containing monomer to form an artificial SEI to reduce the interfacial resistance at SEI. Electropolymerization was performed via two methods, i) pre-modification and ii) in-situ modification. After the modification of the anodes, modified electrodes showed increased capacities, reduced capacity fading effect, and reduced interfacial resistance. Charge-discharge characteristics of half-cell with borylated thiophene polymer over graphite was studied and compared with graphite without any modification and polythiophene coated graphite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]