In-Situ Construction of LiCl-Rich Artificial Solid Electrolyte Interphase for High-Performance Lithium Metal Anode.

In the pursuit of high-energy-density lithium metal batteries (LMBs), the development of stable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) is critical to address issues such as lithium dendrite growth and low Coulombic efficiency. Herein, we propose a facile strategy for the in-situ fabrication of a LiCl-rich artificial SEI layer on Li surfaces through reaction of MoCl5 with Li (Li@MoCl5). The resulting artificial SEI significantly enhances the uniformity of Li deposition, effectively suppresses dendrite formation, and improves electrochemical performance.

Porous carbon nanosheets integrated with graphene-wrapped CoO and CoNx as efficient bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts for rechargeable zinc-air batteries.

The development of advanced bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reactions (ORR) and oxygen evolution reactions (OER) is crucial for the practical application of zinc-air batteries (ZABs). Herein, porous carbon nanosheets integrated with abundant graphene-wrapped CoO and CoNx (CoO/CoNx-C) were successfully fabricated through a simple one-step pyrolysis. With convenient porous channel and large accessible surface, abundant CoO/CoNx species and graphene wrapping structure, CoO/CoNx-C exhibited a half-wave potential of 0.

Structural and functional responses of soil fungal and bacterial communities to a lithium contamination gradient.

The use of lithium (Li) in decarbonization strategies has positioned it as a central component of modern technological advances, particularly in battery applications. However, the increasing demand for Li has raised concerns about its environmental consequences, which are poorly documented. This study aimed to fill this knowledge gap by examining the impact of Li on soil bacterial/fungal communities.

Enhanced degradation of sulfamethoxazole in water by biochar loading and multiple free and non-free radicals cooperating in the FeS@BC/PS system.

The excessive consumption of sulfamethoxazole (SMX), a pharmaceutical antibiotic, poses significant environmental hazards. The FeS-persulfate (FeS-PS) system has been employed for SMX remediation because of its excellent performance. However, FeS tends to agglomerate and become passivated, negatively impacting its activation performance.

Cellulose-Based Materials and Their Application in Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries are promising candidates for next-generation energy storage due to their high energy density, cost-effectiveness, and environmental friendliness. However, their commercialization is hindered by challenges, such as the polysulfide shuttle effect, lithium dendrite growth, and low electrical conductivity of sulfur cathodes. Cellulose, a natural, renewable, and versatile biopolymer, has emerged as a multifunctional material to address these issues.

Key Fundamentals and Examples of Sensors for Human Health: Wearable, Non-Continuous, and Non-Contact Monitoring Devices.

The increasing demand for personalized healthcare, particularly among individuals requiring continuous health monitoring, has driven significant advancements in sensor technology. Wearable, non-continuous monitoring, and non-contact sensors are leading this innovation, providing novel methods for monitoring vital signs and physiological data in both clinical and home settings. However, there is a lack of comprehensive comparative studies assessing the overall functionality of these technologies.

Novel Class-AB Operational Amplifier for Compact and Energy-Efficient Wake-Up Sensor Systems.

This paper presents a novel rail-to-rail Class-AB operational amplifier tailored for wake-up systems in motion sensor applications. By addressing limitations in free Class-AB designs, such as large inrush current, unstable bias conditions, and area ineffiiency, the proposed design achieves a gain of 59 dB and unity gain frequency of 550 kHz driving a 5 pF load. The inrush current is reduced from 1 mA to 7 µA, increasing the battery life.

Slurry Synthesis and Thin-Film Fabrication Toward Production of Li₂O-B₂O₃-Al₂O₃-Based Multilayer Oxide Solid-State Batteries for Internet of Things Applications.

Developing thin-film sheets made of oxide-based solid electrolytes is essential for fabricating surface-mounted ultracompact multilayer oxide solid-state batteries. To this end, solid-electrolyte slurry must be optimized for excellent dispersibility. Although oxide-based solid electrolytes for multilayer structures require sintering, high processing temperatures cause problems such as Li-ion volatilization and reactions with graphite anodes.

Highly Sensitive Non-Dispersive Infrared Gas Sensor with Innovative Application for Monitoring Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Lithium-Ion Battery Thermal Runaway.

The safety of power batteries in the automotive industry is of paramount importance and cannot be emphasized enough. As lithium-ion battery technology continues to evolve, the energy density of these batteries increases, thereby amplifying the potential risks linked to battery failures. This study explores pivotal safety challenges within the electric vehicle sector, with a particular focus on thermal runaway and gas emissions originating from lithium-ion batteries.

Design of asymmetric electrolytes for aqueous zinc batteries.

Aqueous Zn batteries are gaining increasing research attention in the energy storage area due to their intrinsic safety, potentially low cost and environmental friendliness; however, the zinc dendrite formation, zinc corrosion, passivation and the hydrogen evolution reaction induced by water at the anode side, and materials dissolution as well as intrinsic poor reaction kinetics at cathode side in aqueous systems, seriously shorten the cycling life and decrease energy density of batteries and greatly hinder their development. Recent advancements in asymmetric electrolytes with various functions are promising to overcome such challenges for zinc batteries at the same time. It has been proved that the applications of asymmetric electrolytes show significant contributions in the field of zinc-based batteries in suppressing side reactions while maintaining electrochemical performance to satisfy both anode and cathode.

Life cycle comparison of industrial-scale lithium-ion battery recycling and mining supply chains.

Recycling lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) can supplement critical materials and improve the environmental sustainability of LIB supply chains. In this work, environmental impacts (greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, energy consumption) of industrial-scale production of battery-grade cathode materials from end-of-life LIBs are compared to those of conventional mining supply chains. Converting mixed-stream LIBs into battery-grade materials reduces environmental impacts by at least 58%.

Biomimetic and biodegradable separator with high modulus and large ionic conductivity enables dendrite-free zinc-ion batteries.

The advancement of aqueous zinc-based batteries is greatly restricted by zinc dendrites. One potential solution to this challenge lies in the employment of high-modulus separators. However, achieving both high modulus and large ionic conductivity in a single separator remains a formidable task.

Elucidating the Origins of High Capacity in Iron-Based Conversion Materials: Benefit of Complementary Advanced Characterization toward Mechanistic Understanding.

ConspectusLithium-ion batteries are recognized as an important electrochemical energy storage technology due to their superior volumetric and gravimetric energy densities. Graphite is widely used as the negative electrode, and its adoption enabled much of the modern portable electronics technology landscape. However, developing markets, such as electric vehicles and grid-scale storage, have increased demands, including higher energy content and a diverse materials supply chain.

Electrochemo-Mechanics insights of Sn foil anode in Sodium-Ion batteries.

The development of high-performance sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) is crucial to meeting the growing demand for low-cost, sustainable energy storage alternatives to lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, achieving stable cycling performance in SIBs is challenging, particularly with tin (Sn) foil anodes, which suffer from issues like sodium trapping and structural degradation due to significant volume changes during sodiation and desodiation. In this study, we investigate the electrochemo-mechanical behavior of Sn foil anodes, focusing on the mechanisms of sodium trapping and structural evolution that impair battery performance.

Enhancing ionic conductivity and expanding the electrochemical window in polymer electrolytes via ferroelectric-metal-organic-frameworks to manipulate charge spatial distribution.

Poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO)-based polymer electrolytes have promising applications in all-solid-state lithium metal batteries. However, their wide range of practical applications is severely limited by their relatively low room temperature lithium ion conductivity and narrow electrochemical window. In this paper, based on the ability of spontaneous polarization of ferroelectric materials to generate polarization field under applied electric field and the characteristics of Metal-Organic-Frameworks (MOFs) materials with regular adjustable pore structure, a Nano material combining ferroelectric materials and MOF (NUS-6(Hf)-MOF) was first proposed to be added to PEO polymer electrolyte as a filler.

Simultaneous regulation of grain size and interface of single-crystal ultrahigh-nickel LiNiCoMnO via one-step LiZrO coating.

Single-crystal ultrahigh-nickel LiNiCoMnO (NCM) materials are recognized for significant potential in the development of high-performance lithium-ion batteries, primarily owing to their higher energy density and superior cycling performance compared to polycrystalline counterparts. However, these materials require high calcination temperatures, suffer from significant lithium/nickel mixing, and face challenges in composition control. Although high-activity oxide precursors prepared via spray pyrolysis can reduce calcination temperatures, the smaller particle size of the resulting NCM materials intensifies interfacial side reactions.

Operando Synchrotron X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy: A Key Tool for Cathode Material Studies in Next-Generation Batteries.

Rechargeable batteries are central to modern energy storage systems, from portable electronics to electric vehicles. The cathode material, a critical component, largely dictates a battery's energy density, capacity, and overall performance. This review focuses on the application of operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) to study cathode materials in Li-ion, Na-ion, Li-S, and Na-S batteries.

Insights on Fabrication Strategies and Energy Storage Mechanisms of Transition Metal Dichalcogenides Cathodes for Aqueous Zn-Based Batteries.

Aqueous zinc-based batteries (AZBs) are gaining widespread attention owing to their intrinsic safety, relatively low electrode potential, and high theoretical capacity. Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have convenient 2D ion diffusion channels, so they have been identified as promising host materials for AZBs, but face several key challenges such as the narrow interlayer spacing and the lack of in-deep understanding energy storage mechanisms. This review presents a comprehensive summary and discussion of the intrinsic structure, charge storage mechanisms, and key fabrication strategies of TMD-based cathodes for AZBs.

Enhanced K-storage kinetics for N-doped carbon via controllable dedoping strategy.

As a potential alternative to next-generation LIBs, carbonous materials have garnered significant attention as anode materials for potassium-ion batteries due to their low cost and environmental friendliness. However, carbonaceous materials cannot fulfill the demand of anode for PIBs, due to volume expansion and poor stability during charging/discharging process. It is well-known that N doping can provide active sites for K-storage, and expand the layer distance between graphite layers.

Vitrimeric electrolytes - overview and perspectives.

Lithium batteries, essential for consumer electronics, transportation and the energy sector, still require further improvement in performance, safety, and sustainability. Traditonal organic solvent-based electrolytes, widely used in current systems, pose significant safety risks and restrict the development of next generation devices. Vitrimers are materials with unique physical and chemical properties, which offer a promising alternative to overcome these limitations, finally reaching processability and recyclability of solid electrolytes.

Toward Customizable Smart Gels: A Comprehensive Review of Innovative Printing Techniques and Applications.

New production technologies have transformed modern engineering fields, including electronics, mechanics, robotics, and biomedicine. These advancements have led to the creation of smart materials such as alloys, polymers, and gels that respond to various stimuli. This review focuses on smart materials (SMs), including their variety and fabrication techniques, that can be used to construct three- or four-dimensional structures.

High Capacity and Ultralong Lifespan Aqueous Lithium-Bromine Batteries Realized by Low-Cost Concentrated Electrolyte Coupled with Dependable Lithium Titanium Phosphate.

Aqueous halogen batteries are gaining recognition for large-scale energy storage due to their high energy density, safety, environmental sustainability, and cost-effectiveness. However, the limited electrochemical stability window of aqueous electrolytes and the absence of desirable carbonaceous hosts that facilitate halogen redox reactions have hindered the advancement of halogen batteries. Here, a low-cost, high-concentration 26 m Li-B-C-O aqueous solution incorporating lithium bromide (LiBr), lithium chloride (LiCl), and lithium acetate (LiOAc) was developed for aqueous batteries, which demonstrated an expanded electrochemical stability window of .

Chitosan-Based Porous Carbon Materials with Built-In Lewis Acid Boron Sites for Enhanced CO Capture and Conversion via an Electron-Inducing Effect.

Electron-induced effects, which are prevalent in adsorption and heterogeneous catalytic reactions, can significantly influence the state and uptake of adsorbates. Here, we demonstrate the in situ doping of electron-deficient boron into the backbone of chitosan-based porous carbon materials. Despite a reduction in specific surface area, the resulting boron-doped porous carbons (NBPCs) exhibit an enhanced CO adsorption performance, with sample NBPC-10 achieving CO adsorption capacities of 7.

Development of a vegetation canopy reflectance sensor and its diurnal applicability under clear sky conditions.

The spectral reflectance provides valuable information regarding vegetation growth and plays an important role in agriculture, forestry, and grassland management. In this study, a small, portable vegetation canopy reflectance (VCR) sensor that can operate throughout the day was developed. The sensor includes two optical bands at 710 nm and 870 nm, with the light separated by filters, and has a field of view of 28°.

Rapid gram-scale microwave-assisted synthesis of organic anodes for sodium-ion batteries with environmental impact assessment.

Development of sustainable synthesis methods of organic electrode materials (OEMs) for sodium (Na)-ion batteries must take hold rapidly in large scale-synthesis if subsequent commercialisation is to occur. We report a facile and rapid gram-scale synthesis method based on microwave irradiation for disodium naphthalene-2,6-dicarboxylate (Na-NDC) and mono/disodium benzene-1,4-dicarboxylate (Na-BDC) as model compounds. Phase purity and formation of materials was confirmed by various characterisation techniques.