Functionalized Quasi-Solid-State Electrolytes in Aqueous Zn-Ion Batteries for Flexible Devices: Challenges and Strategies.

The rapid development of wearable and intelligent flexible devices has posed strict requirements for power sources, including excellent mechanical strength, inherent safety, high energy density, and eco-friendliness. Zn-ion batteries with aqueous quasi-solid-state electrolytes (AQSSEs) with various functional groups that contain electronegative atoms (O/N/F) with tunable electron accumulation states are considered as a promising candidate to power the flexible devices and tremendous progress has been achieved in this prospering area. Herein, this review proposes a comprehensive summary of the recent achievements using the AQSSE in flexible devices by focusing on the significance of different functional groups.

Electrolyte Solvation Chemistry for Stabilizing the Zn Anode via Functionalized Organic Agents.

As a potential candidate for grid-scale energy storage technology, aqueous Zn-ion batteries (ZIBs) have attracted considerable attention due to their intrinsic safety, environmental friendliness, and ease of fabrication. Nevertheless, the road to industry for this technique is hindered by serious issues, including undesired side reactions, random growth of the Zn dendrites, electrode passivation, and anode corrosion, which are associated with the high reactivity of water molecules during the electrochemical reactions. These challenges are strongly dependent on electrolyte solvation chemistry (ESC), which subsequently determines the electrochemical behavior of the metal ions and water molecules on the electrode surface.

Trap-Mediated Energy Transfer in Er-Doped Cesium Lead Halide Perovskite.

Substitutional doping lanthanide ions (Ln) in CsPbX has been proven to be an efficient strategy for expanding the properties of the perovskite (PVK). Here, erbium (Er) uniformly doped CsPbX perovskite microplates are grown through a chemical vapor deposition method. Two fluorescence peaks at 430 and 520 nm which respectively correspond to the PVK and Er emissions are observed.

Wavelength-Tunable Interlayer Exciton Emission at the Near-Infrared Region in van der Waals Semiconductor Heterostructures.

The wavelength-tunable interlayer exciton (IE) from layered semiconductor materials has not been achieved. van der Waals heterobilayers constructed using single-layer transition metal dichalcogenides can produce continuously changed interlayer band gaps, which is a feasible approach to achieve tunable IEs. In this work, we design a series of van der Waals heterostructures composed of a WSe layer with a fixed band gap and another WSSe alloy layer with continuously changed band gaps.

Large-Scale Growth of Ultrathin Low-Dimensional Perovskite Nanosheets for High-Detectivity Photodetectors.

Low-dimensional organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites have demonstrated to be promising semiconductor materials due to their unique optoelectronic properties, however, the controllable growth of high-quality ultrathin 2D perovskites with large lateral dimension still faces great challenges. Herein, we report the controllable growth of large-scale ultrathin 2D (CH(CH)NH)PbI ((PPA)PbI) perovskite nanosheets (NSs) using a facile antisolvent-assisted crystallization approach under mild condition. As a result, the well-defined regular-shaped (PPA)PbI NSs, with the largest lateral size over 100 μm, have been successfully synthesized, which is more than several ten times larger than that of other 2D perovskite NSs previously reported.

Solvent-Assisted Thermal-Pressure Strategy for Constructing High-Quality CHNHPbICl Films as High-Performance Perovskite Photodetectors.

High-quality CHNHPbICl films have attracted research interests in photoelectric devices because of their improved carrier diffusion length and charge mobility. Herein, a solvent-assisted thermal-pressure strategy is developed to promote the secondary growth of perovskite grains in the films. Highly oriented perovskite films are then obtained with large-sized grains (5-10 μm).