Author Archives: Daniele Pontiroli

Resonant enhancement of photo-induced superconductivity in K3C60

  Photo-excitation at terahertz and mid-infrared frequencies has emerged as an effective way to manipulate functionalities in quantum materials, in some cases creating non-equilibrium phases that have no equilibrium analogue. In K3C60, a metastable zero-resistance phase was observed that has … Continue reading

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Defective graphene decorated with TiO2 nanoparticles as negative electrode in Li-ion batteries

  In this work, the performance of novel negative electrodes for Li-ion batteries based on defective graphene synthesized via a scalable thermal exfoliation of graphite oxide and decorated with TiO2 nanoparticles is investigated. Titania polymorphs are interesting as battery electrode … Continue reading

Posted in Batteries, Crystallography, Graphene | Leave a comment

Graphene-Based Magnetocaloric Composites for Energy Conversion

Herein, a simple, versatile, and cost-effective method to fabricate innovative thermal conductive magnetocaloric (MC) composites, which offers a smart solution to manufacture active elements with desired geometries, overcoming the current thermal and mechanical limits of the most studied MC materials, … Continue reading

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Zn-doped titania nanoparticles as building blocks for solid foam filters of water and air via photocatalytic oxidation

Photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) could provide energy-efficient purification of water and air. Its efficacy is constrained mainly by limited photocatalytic activity and active surface. To address both, solid foams with hierarchic porous structures spanning multiple length-scales, stabilized by photocatalytic Zn-doped titania … Continue reading

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Combined capacitive and electrochemical charge storage mechanism in high-performance graphene-based lithium-ion batteries

  Improvements in lithium (Li)-ion battery technology can be achieved by developing novel, high-performance electrode materials. Graphene appears to be a good candidate as an anode material for Li-ion batteries thanks to the similarity with graphite, the good electrical conductivity, … Continue reading

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Evidence for metastable photo-induced superconductivity in K3C60

Excitation of high-Tc cuprates and certain organic superconductors with intense far-infrared optical pulses has been shown to create non-equilibrium states with optical properties that are consistent with transient high-temperature superconductivity. These non-equilibrium phases have been generated using femtosecond drives, and … Continue reading

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In situ decoration of laser-scribed graphene with TiO2 nanoparticles for scalable high-performance micro-supercapacitors

Graphene-based miniaturized supercapacitors, obtained via laser conversion of suitable precursors, have been attracting recent attention for the production of energy storage small-scale devices. In this work, a one-pot synthesis of TiO2 nanoparticles embedded in porous graphene-based electrodes has been obtained with … Continue reading

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Enhancing the performance of carbon electrodes in supercapacitors through medium-temperature fluoroalkylation

Medium-temperature fuoroalkylation of microporous activated carbons (ACs) with 1,1,1,2-tetrafuoroethane is presented. Supercapacitor (SC) electrodes based on the fuoroalkylated ACs showed enhanced specifc capacitance and high specific energy in electrolytes, either aqueous potassium hydroxide solution or tetraethylammonium tetrafuoroborate-acetonitrile solution. We found … Continue reading

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Nickel addition to optimize the hydrogen storage performance of lithium intercalated fullerides

The addition of transition metals to alkali intercalated fullerides proved to enhance their already good hydrogen absorption properties. Herein we present a study based on two different synthetic strategies, allowing the addition of nickel as aggregates with different size to … Continue reading

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Neutron scattering study of nickel decorated thermally exfoliated graphite oxide

Surface decoration of graphene-based nanostructures with metals has been predicted to be an efficient way towards the development of resistant catalysts and novel materials for energy applications, such as hydrogen production and storage. We report on an extensive neutron scattering … Continue reading

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