Acidity-Aided Surface Modification Strategy to Enhance In Situ MnO Deposition for High Performance Zn-MnO Battery Prototypes.

Zn-MnO batteries offer cost-effective, eco-friendly, and efficient solutions for large-scale energy storage applications. However, challenges, like irreversible cathode reactions, prolonged cyclability, and electrolyte stability during high-voltage operations limit their broader application. This study provides insight into the charge-discharge process through in situ deposition of active β-MnO nanoflakes on a carbon-based current collector.

Customized Production of Holey Graphene Oxides via a Continuous Flow Process.

Continuous flow manufacturing is an innovative technology mainly applied in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries that is progressively being adapted to the manufacturing of nanomaterials to overcome the challenge of reproducing a product with consistent characteristics at a large scale. Here, a flow photochemical system is designed and prototyped for the synthesis of holey graphene oxides (hGOs). Compared to existing methods for the synthesis of hGO, the process is fast, highly scalable, and controllable.

New Class of High-Energy, High-Power Capacitive Devices Enabled by Stabilized Lithium Metal Anodes.

Lithium-ion capacitors (LIC) combine the energy storage mechanisms of lithium-ion batteries and electric double layer capacitors (EDLC) and are supposed to promise the best of both worlds: high energy and power density combined with a long life. However, the lack of lithium cation sources in the carbon cathode demands the cumbersome step of prelithiation of the graphite anode, mainly by using sacrificial lithium metal, hindering the mass adoption of LICs. Here, in a conceptually new class of devices termed lithium metal capacitors (LMC), we replace the graphite anode with a lithium metal anode stabilized by a complex yet stable solid-electrolyte interface (SEI).

A saccharide-based binder for efficient polysulfide regulations in Li-S batteries.

The viability of lithium-sulfur batteries as an energy storage technology depends on unlocking long-term cycle stability. Most instability stems from the release and transport of polysulfides from the cathode, which causes mossy growth on the lithium anode, leading to continuous consumption of electrolyte. Therefore, development of a durable cathode with minimal polysulfide escape is critical.

Expansion-tolerant architectures for stable cycling of ultrahigh-loading sulfur cathodes in lithium-sulfur batteries.

Lithium-sulfur batteries can displace lithium-ion by delivering higher specific energy. Presently, however, the superior energy performance fades rapidly when the sulfur electrode is loaded to the required levels-5 to 10 mg cm- due to substantial volume change of lithiation/delithiation and the resultant stresses. Inspired by the classical approaches in particle agglomeration theories, we found an approach that places minimum amounts of a high-modulus binder between neighboring particles, leaving increased space for material expansion and ion diffusion.

Graphene Oxide Liquid Crystal Domains: Quantification and Role in Tailoring Viscoelastic Behavior.

Graphene oxide liquid crystals (GOLCs) were exfoliated in a wide variety of solvents (water, ethylene glycol (EG), -methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), and dimethylformamide (DMF)) by high-speed shearing of graphite oxide. Quantitative polarized light imaging of the equilibrium nematic phases of the lyotropic GOLCs gives insights into the extent of aggregation and quantifiable textural features such as domain size, . Large nematic domains >100 μm with a high overall degree of order were obtained in water and ethylene glycol, in contrast to ∼5-50 μm domains in NMP and DMF at comparable volume fractions.

Lead-Free Piezoelectric Ceramic Coatings Fabricated by Thermal Spray Process.

This paper starts from a review on the progress in fabrication of piezoelectric ceramic coatings by thermal spray method. For our experimental work, two types of lead-free piezoelectric ceramic coatings, including potassium-sodium niobate-based and bismuth sodium titanate-based, are fabricated by thermal spray process, and their structure, morphology, and piezoelectric properties are characterized. Our obtained lead-free ceramic coatings exhibit single phase of perovskite structure, relatively dense morphology, and competitive piezoelectric coefficients.

Nanoconfinement induced crystal orientation and large piezoelectric coefficient in vertically aligned P(VDF-TrFE) nanotube array.

Vertically aligned piezoelectric P(VDF-TrFE) nanotube array comprising nanotubes embedded in anodized alumina membrane matrix without entanglement has been fabricated. It is found that the crystallographic polar axes of the P(VDF-TrFE) nanotubes are oriented along the nanotubes long axes. Such a desired crystal orientation is due to the kinetic selection mechanism for lamellae growth confined in the nanopores.

Dielectric behaviors and high energy storage density of nanocomposites with core-shell BaTiO3@TiO2 in poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene).

Nanocomposites comprising a P(VDF-HFP) polymer matrix and core-shell structured nanoparticle fillers were prepared, in which a crystalline, ultrathin TiO2 shell layer encapsulates BaTiO3 nanoparticles. A large dielectric constant (>110) was obtained, which was unexpectedly more than 3 times higher than that of the nanocomposite without the TiO2 shell layer. The significant improvement in electric polarization is attributed to the highly interactive interfaces among the multiple dielectric materials with the introduction of the intermediate TiO2 layer, which also improves the breakdown field (>340 MV m(-1)).

Nonlinear dielectric thin films for high-power electric storage with energy density comparable with electrochemical supercapacitors.

Although batteries possess high energy storage density, their output power is limited by the slow movement of charge carriers, and thus capacitors are often required to deliver high power output. Dielectric capacitors have high power density with fast discharge rate, but their energy density is typically much lower than electrochemical supercapacitors. Increasing the energy density of dielectric materials is highly desired to extend their applications in many emerging power system applications.