Speaker
Michelle Sibonokuhle Nyoni
(School of Chemistry, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa)
Description
Significant energy demand, especially on the African continent, has led to a need in the
development of cost-effective energy storage devices with high performance. Lithium-
ion batteries have been studied and used extensively due to lithium having one of the
smallest ionic radii and the most negative reduction potential, being lightweight and
being able to achieve a greater energy density and power density (Nitta et al., 2015).
They are highly considered because of their potential to resolve the global warming
challenge (Onoda et al., 2012). Phosphates have exhibited noteworthy operating
potentials and high thermodynamic and kinetic stability. Vanadium has the advantage of
tuning its oxidation state from V 2+ to V 5+ . Combination of these three components
promises a cathode material that will possibly possess high lithium capacity, good ion
mobility, a good capacity and a high operating voltage of approximately 4.0 V. Synthesis
methods include a solid-state synthesis with a combination of grinding and annealing
under a hydrogen gas atmosphere. Techniques useful for characterization of the
cathode material include powder x-ray diffraction (PXRD), thermo-gravimetric analysis
(TGA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electrochemical testing that
includes galvanostatic charge-discharge, cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical
impedance spectroscopy (EIS).
Primary author
Michelle Sibonokuhle Nyoni
(School of Chemistry, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa)
