A Four-Electron Sulfur Electrode Hosting a Cu /Cu Redox Charge Carrier.

The elemental sulfur electrode with Cu as the charge carrier gives a four-electron sulfur electrode reaction through the sequential conversion of S↔CuS↔Cu S. The Cu-S redox-ion electrode delivers a high specific capacity of 3044 mAh g based on the sulfur mass or 609 mAh g based on the mass of Cu S, the completely discharged product, and displays an unprecedently high potential of sulfur/metal sulfide reduction at 0.5 V vs.

Reverse Dual-Ion Battery via a ZnCl Water-in-Salt Electrolyte.

Dual-ion batteries are known for anion storage in the cathode coupled to cation incorporation in the anode. We flip the sequence of the anion/cation-storage chemistries of the anode and the cathode in dual-ion batteries (DIBs) by allowing the anode to take in anions and a cation-deficient cathode to host cations, thus operating as a reverse dual-ion battery (RDIB). The anion-insertion anode is a nanocomposite having ferrocene encapsulated inside a microporous carbon, and the cathode is a Zn-insertion Prussian blue, Zn[Fe(CN)].

An Aqueous Dual-Ion Battery Cathode of Mn O via Reversible Insertion of Nitrate.

We report reversible electrochemical insertion of NO into manganese(II, III) oxide (Mn O ) as a cathode for aqueous dual-ion batteries. Characterization by TGA, FTIR, EDX, XANES, EXAFS, and EQCM collectively provides unequivocal evidence that reversible oxidative NO insertion takes place inside Mn O . Ex situ HRTEM and corresponding EDX mapping results suggest that NO insertion de-crystallizes the structure of Mn O .

Toward Higher Capacities of Hydrocarbon Cathodes in Dual-Ion Batteries.

We report the electrochemical anion storage properties of a group of molecular solids of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs): coronene, perylene, and triphenylene. We discover an interesting trend of progressively lower potentials for these three molecular solids. Our DFT calculations reveal that the inserted PF anions preferably bind with the edge sites of the coronene molecules as opposed to being sandwiched between two coronene molecular planes.

A ZnCl water-in-salt electrolyte for a reversible Zn metal anode.

We report a low-cost water-in-salt electrolyte, of 30 m ZnCl2, which enables a dendrite-free Zn metal anode to possess a high coulombic efficiency (CE). In asymmetric Zn‖Zn cells with a limited mass of plated Zn as the working electrode, the ZnCl2 WiSE improves the average CE of the Zn anode to 95.4% from 73.

Insights on the Proton Insertion Mechanism in the Electrode of Hexagonal Tungsten Oxide Hydrate.

This study reveals the transport behavior of lattice water during proton (de)insertion in the structure of the hexagonal WO·0.6HO electrode. By monitoring the mass evolution of this electrode material via electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance, we discovered (1) WO·0.

Mg-Ion Battery Electrode: An Organic Solid's Herringbone Structure Squeezed upon Mg-Ion Insertion.

We report that crystalline 3,4,9,10-perylenetetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA), an organic solid, is highly amenable to host divalent metal ions, i.e., Mg and Ca, in aqueous electrolytes, where the van der Waals structure is intrinsically superior in hosting charge-dense ions.

Photocatalyzed Reduction of Bicarbonate to Formate: Effect of ZnS Crystal Structure and Positive Hole Scavenger.

Zinc sulfide is a promising catalyst due to its abundance, low cost, low toxicity and conduction band position that enables the photoreduction of CO2 to formic acid. This study is the first to examine experimentally the photocatalytic differences between wurtzite and sphalerite under the parameters of size (micrometer and nanoscale), crystal lattice, surface area, and band gap on productivity in the photoreduction of HCO3(-). These photochemical experiments were conducted under air mass coefficient zero (AM 0) and AM 1.