Densification of Cathode/Electrolyte Interphase to Enhance Reversibility of LiCoO at 4.65 V.

For LiCoO (LCO) operated beyond 4.55 V (vs Li/Li), it usually suffers from severe surface degradation. Constructing a robust cathode/electrolyte interphase (CEI) is effective to alleviate the above issues, however, the correlated mechanisms still remain vague.

Sequential co-reduction of nitrate and carbon dioxide enables selective urea electrosynthesis.

Despite the recent achievements in urea electrosynthesis from co-reduction of nitrogen wastes (such as NO) and CO, the product selectivity remains fairly mediocre due to the competing nature of the two parallel reduction reactions. Here we report a catalyst design that affords high selectivity to urea by sequentially reducing NO and CO at a dynamic catalytic centre, which not only alleviates the competition issue but also facilitates C-N coupling. We exemplify this strategy on a nitrogen-doped carbon catalyst, where a spontaneous switch between NO and CO reduction paths is enabled by reversible hydrogenation on the nitrogen functional groups.

Revealing the Grain-Boundary-Cracking Induced Capacity Decay of a High-Voltage LiCoO at 4.6 V.

During a practical battery manufacture process, the LiCoO (LCO) electrodes are usually rolled with high pressure to achieve better performance, including reducing electrode polarization, increasing compact density, enhancing mechanical toughness, etc. In this work, a high-voltage LCO (HV-LCO) is achieved via modulating a commercialized LCO with an Al/F enriched and spinel reinforced surface structure. We reveal that the rolling can more or less introduce risk of grain-boundary-cracking (GBC) inside the HV-LCO and accelerate the capacity decay when cycled at 3-4.

Promoting Surface Electric Conductivity for High-Rate LiCoO.

The cathode materials work as the host framework for both Li diffusion and electron transport in Li-ion batteries. The Li diffusion property is always the research focus, while the electron transport property is less studied. Herein, we propose a unique strategy to elevate the rate performance through promoting the surface electric conductivity.

Structure evolution and energy storage mechanism of ZnVO spinel in aqueous zinc batteries.

Spinel-type materials are promising for the cathodes in rechargeable aqueous zinc batteries. Herein, ZnVO is synthesized a simple solid-state reaction method. By tuning the Zn(CFSO) concentration in electrolytes and the cell voltage ranges, improved electrochemical performance of ZnVO can be achieved.

Oxygen-Deficient β-MnO@Graphene Oxide Cathode for High-Rate and Long-Life Aqueous Zinc Ion Batteries.

Recent years have witnessed a booming interest in grid-scale electrochemical energy storage, where much attention has been paid to the aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs). Among various cathode materials for AZIBs, manganese oxides have risen to prominence due to their high energy density and low cost. However, sluggish reaction kinetics and poor cycling stability dictate against their practical application.