Electrorefining Process of the Non-Commercial Copper Anodes

The electrorefining process of the non-commercial Cu anodes was tested on the enlarged laboratory equipment over 72 h. Cu anodes with Ni content of 5 or 10 wt.% and total content of Pb, Sn, and Sb of about 1.5 wt.% were used for the tests. The real waste solution of sulfuric acid character was a working electrolyte of different temperatures (T1 = 63 ± 2 °C and T2 = 73 ± 2 °C). The current density of 250 A/m2 was the same as in the commercial process. Tests were confirmed that those anodes can be used in the commercial copper electrorefining process based on the fact that the elements from anodes were dissolved, the total anode passivation did not occur, and copper is deposited onto cathodes. The masses of cathode deposits confirmed that the Cu ions from the electrolyte were also deposited onto cathodes. The concentration of Cu, As, and Sb ions in the electrolyte was decreased. At the same time, the concentration of Ni ions was increased by a maximum of up to 129.27 wt.%. The major crystalline phases in the obtained anode slime, detected by the X-ray diffraction analyses, were PbSO4, Cu3As, SbAsO4, Cu2O, As2O3, PbO, SnO, and Sb2O3.

Design Simulation and Preparation of White OLED Microdisplay Based on Microcavity Structure Optimization

White-light OLED devices play an important application in information display fields. Optical interference of the microcavity structure has an important effect on device performances. According to the design of the band structure, ITO/MoO3 composite films were used as the anode, and Mg : Ag (1%) composite films were prepared by coevaporation as the translucent cathode; CuPc was used as the hole injection layer and anode passivation layer, NPB as the hole transmission layer and yellow light main material, rubrene as yellow dopant material, ADN as blue light main material, DSA-Ph as blue dopant material, and TPBi and Alq3 as the electron transport layers. We realized the change of the microcavity structure by adjusting the thickness of each organic functional layer film and simulated and calculated the optimized thickness of each organic film layer and influence on OLED device performances using the SimOLED software system. The optimized OLED microdisplay structure is Si(CMOS)/ITO (35 nm)/MoO3 (2 nm)/CuPc (5 nm)/2-TNATA (20 nm)/NPB (10 nm)/NPB : rubrene (1.5%)ADN : DSA-Ph (5%) (25 nm)/TPBi (15 nm)/Alq3 (1.2 nm)/Mg (13 nm) : Ag (1%). The optimized OLED microdisplay was prepared by the vacuum coating system, and the photoelectric performances of the OLED device were characterized by a spectral testing system consisting of the Photo Research PR655 spectrometer and Keithley 2400 program-controlled power supply. The effect of the microcavity structure on OLED device performances was studied. The results show that the variation of the film thickness of each organic functional layer has an important effect on the performances of OLED microdisplay, such as brightness and color coordinate, and the OLED microdisplay reaches a higher brightness of 3342 cd/m2 under the normal working voltage at 5.0 V after the structure is optimized, with CIE coordinate (0.28, 0.37), which is closer to the energy point of standard white light.

Influence of VC and FEC Additives on Interphase Properties of Carbon in Li-Ion Cells Investigated by Combined EIS & EQCM-D

<div>The electrolyte additives vinylene carbonate (VC) and fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) are well known for increasing the lifetime of a Li-ion battery cell by supporting the formation of an effective solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) at the anode. In this study combined simultaneous electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and <i>operando</i> electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (EQCM-D) are employed together with <i>in situ</i> gas analysis (OEMS) to study the influence of VC and FEC on the passivation process and the interphase properties at carbon-based anodes. In small quantities both additives reduce the initial interphase mass loading by 30 to 50 %, but only VC also effectively prevents continuous side reactions and improves anode passivation significantly. VC and FEC are both reduced at potentials above 1 V vs. Li⁺/Li in the first cycle and change the SEI composition which causes an increase of the SEI shear storage modulus by over one order of magnitude in both cases. As a consequence, the ion diffusion coefficient and conductivity in the interphase is also significantly affected. While small quantities of VC in the initial electrolyte increase the SEI conductivity, FEC decomposition products hinder charge transport through the SEI and thus increase overall anode impedance significantly. </div>

Influence of VC and FEC Additives on Interphase Properties of Carbon in Li-Ion Cells Investigated by Combined EIS & EQCM-D

<div>The electrolyte additives vinylene carbonate (VC) and fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) are well known for increasing the lifetime of a Li-ion battery cell by supporting the formation of an effective solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) at the anode. In this study combined simultaneous electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and <i>operando</i> electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (EQCM-D) are employed together with <i>in situ</i> gas analysis (OEMS) to study the influence of VC and FEC on the passivation process and the interphase properties at carbon-based anodes. In small quantities both additives reduce the initial interphase mass loading by 30 to 50 %, but only VC also effectively prevents continuous side reactions and improves anode passivation significantly. VC and FEC are both reduced at potentials above 1 V vs. Li⁺/Li in the first cycle and change the SEI composition which causes an increase of the SEI shear storage modulus by over one order of magnitude in both cases. As a consequence, the ion diffusion coefficient and conductivity in the interphase is also significantly affected. While small quantities of VC in the initial electrolyte increase the SEI conductivity, FEC decomposition products hinder charge transport through the SEI and thus increase overall anode impedance significantly. </div>