Polyhydroxy Sodium Salt Additive to Regulate Zn Solvation Structure and Zn Deposition Texture for High-Stability and Long-Life Aqueous Zinc Batteries.

Electrolyte additives are commonly employed in aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) to suppress dendrite growth, corrosion, and hydrogen evolution. However, rational design principles and systematic mechanistic studies for selecting suitable additives to regulate reversible Zn plating/stripping chemistry are worth in-depth study. Using L-ascorbic acid sodium (LAAS) as the representative, theoretical calculations combined with in situ experimental analyses manifest that polyhydroxy-sodium-salts preferentially chemisorbed on Zn surface to construct the HO-poor interfacial microenvironment, suppressing undesirable water-related side reactions.

Separator modification with a high-entropy hydroxyphosphate, CoNiFeCuCa(PO)(OH), for high-performance Li-S batteries.

The shuttle effect of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) significantly hinders the practical application of lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs). Herein, a high-entropy hydroxyphosphate (CoNiFeCuCa(PO)(OH), denoted as HE-CHP), was synthesized by metal cation exchange with calcium hydroxyphosphate (CHP) and then coated on polypropylene (PP) separators to suppress the shuttling of LiPSs. Density functional theory calculations indicated that the various introduced metal cations could effectively modulate the binding strength of soluble polysulfides and enhance the reaction kinetics of LiPSs conversion.

Boron-Doping Engineering in AgCd Bimetallic Catalyst Enabling Efficient CO Electroreduction to CO and Aqueous Zn-CO Batteries.

The limited adsorption and activation of CO on catalyst and the high energy barrier for intermediate formation hinder the development of electrochemical CO reduction reactions (CORR). Herein, this work reports a boron (B) doping engineering in AgCd bimetals to alleviate the above limitations for efficient CO electroreduction to CO and aqueous Zn-CO batteries. Specifically, the B-doped AgCd bimetallic catalyst (AgCd-B) is prepared via a simple reduction reaction at room temperature.

Atmosphere Induces Tunable Oxygen Vacancies to Stabilize Single-Atom Copper in Ceria for Robust Electrocatalytic CO Reduction to CH.

Electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction (ECORR) shows great potential to create high-value carbon-based chemicals, while designing advanced catalysts at the atomic level remains challenging. The ECORR performance is largely dependent on the catalyst microelectronic structure that can be effectively modulated through surface defect engineering. Here, we provide an atmosphere-assisted low-temperature calcination strategy to prepare a series of single-atomic Cu/ceria catalysts with varied oxygen vacancy concentrations for robust electrolytic reduction of CO to methane.

Mastering Surface Sulfidation of MnP-MnO Heterostructure to Facilitate Efficient Polysulfide Conversion in Li─S Batteries.

The development of lithium-sulfur (Li─S) batteries has been hampered by the shuttling effect of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs). An effective method to address this issue is to use an electrocatalyst to accelerate the catalytic conversion of LiPSs. In this study, heterogeneous MnP-MnO nanoparticles are uniformly synthesized and embedded in porous carbon (MnP-MnO/C) as core catalysts to improve the reaction kinetics of LiPSs.

Biomass-derived polymer as a flexible "zincophilic-hydrophobic" solid electrolyte interphase layer to enable practical Zn metal anodes.

Aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs) face significant challenges stemming from Zn dendrite growth and water-contact attack, primarily due to the lack of a well-designed solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) to safeguard the Zn anode. Herein, we report a bio-mass derived polymer of chitin on Zn anode (Zn@chitin) as a novel and robust artificial SEI layer to boost the Zn anode rechargeability. The polymeric chitin SEI layer features both zincophilic and hydrophobic characteristics to target the suppressed dendritic Zn formation as well as the water-induced side reactions, thus harvesting a dendrite-free and corrosion-resistant Zn anode.

Three-Phase-Heterojunction Cu/CuO-SbO Catalyst Enables Efficient CO Electroreduction to CO and High-Performance Aqueous Zn-CO Battery.

Zn-CO batteries are excellent candidates for both electrical energy output and CO utilization, whereas the main challenge is to design electrocatalysts for electrocatalytic CO reduction reactions with high selectivity and low cost. Herein, the three-phase heterojunction Cu-based electrocatalyst (Cu/CuO-SbO-15) is synthesized and evaluated for highly selective CO reduction to CO, which shows the highest faradaic efficiency of 96.3% at -1.

Separator Design Strategies to Advance Rechargeable Aqueous Zinc Ion Batteries.

With the increasing demand for low-cost and high-safety portable batteries, aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) have been regarded as a potential alternative to the lithium-ion batteries, bringing about extensive research dedicated in the exploration of high-performance and highly reversible ZIBs. Although separators are generally considered as non-active components in conventional research on ZIBs, advanced separators designs seem to offer effective solutions to the majority of issues within ZIBs system. These issues encompass concerns related to the zinc anode, cathode, and electrolyte.

N-Rich and Sulfur-Doped Nano Hollow Carbons with High Oxidase-like Activity Prepared Using a Green Template of CaCO for Bacteriostasis.

Nanozymes, enzyme-mimicking nanomaterials, have attracted increasing attention due to their low cost, high stability, and catalytic ability compared with natural enzymes. However, the catalytic efficiency of the nanozymes is still relatively low, and catalytic reaction mechanisms remain unclear. To address these issues, herein we prepared nitrogen-riched and sulfur-codoped nano hollow carbons (N/S-HCS) using a green and useful template of CaCO.

Mediating Triple Ions Migration Behavior via a Fluorinated Separator Interface toward Highly Reversible Aqueous Zn Batteries.

Rampant dendrite growth, electrode passivation and severe corrosion originate from the uncontrolled ions migration behavior of Zn , SO , and H , which are largely compromising the aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs) performance. Exploring the ultimate strategy to eliminate all the Zn anode issues is challenging but urgent at present. Herein, a fluorinated separator interface (PVDF@GF) is constructed simply by grafting the polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) on the GF surface to realize high-performance AZIBs.

Hydrogen-bond induced and hetero coupling dual effects in N-doped carbon coated CrN/Ni nanosheets for efficient alkaline freshwater/seawater hydrogen evolution.

Developing efficient and robust non-precious-metal-based hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts is highly desirable but remains quite challenging for alkaline freshwater/seawater electrolysis. In the present study, we report a theory-guided design and synthesis of a nickel foam (NF) supported N-doped carbon-coated (NC) nickel (Ni)/chromium nitride (CrN) nanosheets (NC@CrN/Ni) as a highly active and durable electrocatalyst. Our theoretical calculation firstly reveals that CrN/Ni heterostructure can greatly promote the HO dissociation via hydrogen-bond induced effect, and the N site can be optimized by hetero coupling to achieve a facile hydrogen associative desorption, thereby significantly boosting alkaline HER.

A Nature-Inspired Separator with Water-Confined and Kinetics-Boosted Effects for Sustainable and High-Utilization Zn Metal Batteries.

Uncontrollable dendrite growth and sluggish ion-transport kinetics are considered as the main obstacles for the further development of high-performance aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs). Here, a nature-inspired separator (ZnHAP/BC) is developed to tackle these issues via the hybridization of the biomass-derived bacterial cellulose (BC) network and nano-hydroxyapatite particles (HAP). The as-prepared ZnHAP/BC separator not only regulates the desolvation process of the hydrated Zn ions (Zn(H O) ) by suppressing the water reactivity through the surface functional groups, alleviating the water-induced side-reactions, but also boosts the ion-transport kinetics and homogenize the Zn flux, resulting in a fast and uniform Zn deposition.

Regulating Zn Ion Desolvation and Deposition Chemistry Toward Durable and Fast Rechargeable Zn Metal Batteries.

The high Zn ion desolvation energy, sluggish Zn deposition kinetics, and top Zn plating pattern are the key challenges toward practical Zn anodes. Herein, these key issues are addressed by introducing zinc pyrovanadate (ZVO) as a solid zinc-ion conductor interface to induce smooth and fast Zn deposition underneath the layer. Electrochemical studies, computational analysis, and in situ observations reveal the boosted desolvation and deposition kinetics, and uniformity by ZVO interface.

Tannic acid assisted metal-chelate interphase toward highly stable Zn metal anodes in rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries.

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) have attracted extensive attention because of their eco-friendliness, intrinsic safety, and high theoretical capacity. Nevertheless, the long-standing Zn anode issues such as dendrite growth, hydrogen evolution, and passivation greatly restrict the further development of AZIBs. Herein, a metal-chelate interphase with high Zn affinity is constructed on the Zn metal surface (TA@Zn) via dipping metallic Zn into a tannic acid (TA) solution to address the aforementioned problems.

Hexagonal WO/3D Porous Graphene as a Novel Zinc Intercalation Anode for Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries.

Aqueous Zn-ion batteries (ZIBs) have acquired great attention because of their high safety and environmentally friendly properties. However, the uncontrollable Zn dendrites and the irreversibility of electrodes seriously affect their practical application. Herein, hexagonal WO/three-dimensional porous graphene (h-WO/3DG) is investigated as an intercalation anode for ZIBs.

Low temperature induced highly stable Zn metal anodes for aqueous zinc-ion batteries.

We report a highly stable Zn metal anode by simply controlling the operating temperature at 0 °C. Without any further protection, the Zn anode exhibits an ultra-long cycle life over 2500 h (>100 days) in Zn symmetric cells with 3 M Zn(CFSO) aqueous electrolyte. This impressive performance is ascribed to the improved Zn metal corrosion resistance and compact and smooth Zn surface morphology during Zn plating/stripping at low temperatures.

Enhanced reversibility and electrochemical window of Zn-ion batteries with an acetonitrile/water-in-salt electrolyte.

An acetonitrile/water-in-salt (AWIS) hybrid electrolyte was developed for Zn-ion batteries. Compared to conventional aqueous electrolytes, the AWIS hybrid electrolyte prolonged the lifespan of Zn|Zn cells from 150 to 2500 h and increased the upper cut-off voltage from 1.8 to 2.

Pseudocapacitive Crystalline MnCoO and Amorphous MnCoS Core/Shell Heterostructure with Graphene for High-Performance K-Ion Hybrid Capacitors.

Potassium-ion capacitors (KICs) have received a surge of interest because of their higher reserves and lower costs of potassium than lithium. However, the cycle performance and capacity of potassium devices have been reported to be unsatisfactory. Herein, a unique crystalline MnCoO and amorphous MnCoS core/shell nanoscale flower structure grown on graphene (MCO@MCS@rGO) was synthesized by a two-step hydrothermal process and demonstrated in KICs.