Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) with high specific surface area show great potential for sodium storage as a hard carbon material. Herein, CNFs anchored with Ni nanoparticles (CNFs/Ni) were prepared through chemical vapor deposition and impregnation reduction methods, in situ growing on the three-dimensional porous copper current collector (3DP-Cu). The coupling effect of high-spin state Ni nanoparticles leads to the increase of defect density and the expansion of lattice spacing of CNFs. Meanwhile, the 3DP-Cu ensures a high loading capacity of CNFs and short ion/electron transport channels. As an integral binder-free anode, the 3DP-Cu/CNFs/Ni exhibits excellent electrochemical performance, which demonstrates a high specific capacity with 298.5 mAh g–1 at 1000 mA g–1 after 1500 cycles, and a high power density with 200 mAh g–1 over 1000 cycles at 5000 mA g–1. Density functional theory calculation results show that the high-spin state Ni regulates the electronic structure of CNFs, whic
Electrochemical CO2 reduction offers a promising approach to alleviate environmental and climate impacts attributed to increasing atmospheric CO2. Intensive research work has been performed over the years on catalysts, membranes, and other associated components related to the development of CO2 electrolyzers. Herein, we assembled a full cell comprising a Bi nanoparticle (NP)-based cathode for reducing CO2 to formate and the earth-abundant NiFe layered double hydroxide (LDH)-based anode for oxygen evolution. The electrolyte used was 1 M KOH, and an anion exchange membrane separator was employed. A formate conversion Faradaic efficiency (FEformate) of 90 ± 2% was obtained at the cell voltage of 2.12 V. This full cell system operating at 2.12 V was found to perform well over 10 h, as the FEformate remained above 85% with ∼82% retention of current. This is among the best performing CO2-to-formate conversion systems based on all non-precious metal catalysts. The low water oxidation overp
The increasing demand for low-viscosity engine oil has underscored the role of zinc dialkyldithiophosphates (ZDDP) as a conventional anti-wear and antioxidant additive. It is essential to investigate the influence of modern additives such as cyclopropanecarboxylic acid (CPCa) and Ni nanoparticles on the tribological performance of ZDDP for practical commercial oil application. According to the experimental results, Ni nanoparticles formed a protective film that exhibited a synergistic effect with ZDDP. A significantly higher concentration of sulphur in the tribofilm was detected compared to ZDDP by itself, which was responsible for a 27.6% lower wear loss. Meanwhile, a competitive effect between CPCa and ZDDP resulted in a dramatic increase in friction and unstable anti-wear performance. This was demonstrated by a localized formation of the ZDDP tribofilm on the wear surfaces after the friction test. These results have highlighted the synergistic and competitive effects of emerging add