The challenges and strategies towards high-performance anode-free post-lithium metal batteries.

With the merits of high theoretical energy density and ease of manufacture, anode-free post-lithium metal batteries have drawn extensive attention and have been rapidly emerging in recent years. However, the poor reversibility of metal anodes has severely hindered the realization of high-performance anode-free batteries. In this review, the critical challenges and strategies for achieving high-performance anode-free metal batteries are first elucidated.

Surface-modified spinel high entropy oxide with hybrid coating-layer for enhanced cycle stability and lithium-ion storage performance.

High-entropy oxide (HEO) has emerged as a promising anode material for high-energy lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to its high theoretical specific capacity. However, the further application of HEO is restricted by its complicated interface problems and inevitable expansion effect. In this work, a simple approach to coat spinel HEO (FeCoNiCrMn)O with a hybrid layer of lithium titanate (LTO) and carbon is presented.

Green processing surface diffuse atmospheric plasma to enhance the dyeing performance on polylactic acid fabric.

Poor dyeing performance has been a major defect of polylactic acid (PLA) fibers, which is caused by the lack of active chemical groups in PLA, and hinders the widespread use of this biodegradable material. Most of the existing chemical modification methods are not environmentally friendly and produce effluents. Herein, we report a green, efficient and continuous method to process PLA fibers surface diffuse atmospheric plasma for the improvement of its hydrophilicity and dyeing performance.

Correction: Expanded graphite incorporated with LiTiO nanoparticles as a high-rate lithium-ion battery anode.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/D4RA00832D.].

Expanded graphite incorporated with LiTiO nanoparticles as a high-rate lithium-ion battery anode.

Due to their small interlayer spacing and a low lithiation potential close to Li deposition, current graphite anodes suffer from weak kinetics, and lithium deposition in a fast-charging process, hindering their practical application in high-power lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). In this work, expanded graphite incorporated with LiTiO nanoparticles (EG/LTO) was synthesized moderate oxidization of artificial graphite following a solution coating process. The EG/LTO has sufficient porosity for fast Li diffusion and a dense LiTiO layer for decreased interface reaction resistance, resulting in excellent fast-charging properties.

WO/MIL-125 (Ti) composite material for enhancing the reduction of Cr(vi) under visible light.

In wastewater containing heavy metals, Cr(vi) is a potentially toxic metal, mainly derived from production and processing processes such as textile printing, dyeing, ore mining, battery applications, metal cleaning and electroplating. WO is widely used in photocatalytic degradation and reduction, and its utilization rate of visible light is high. However, the rapid recombination of photogenerated electron-hole pairs of WO limits its use.

The effects of partially or fully linked boron with a cross-linking structure of an organic precursor on the purity and morphology of ZrB powder.

From a chemical infrastructure perspective, it is important to ensure that all ions constituting a target product, , Zr and B ions for ZrB, are fully linked with a cross-linking structure for synthesis an organic precursor. In the present study, glycerol is used as a chelating ligand to prepare boron both partially and fully linked with the cross-linking structure of organic precursors by a sol-gel route. The results are far from expected, in that the more linked boron there is in the precursor, the purer the ZrB produced.

Evoking C production from electrochemical CO reduction by the steric confinement effect of ordered porous CuO.

Selective conversion of carbon dioxide (CO) to multi-carbon products (CO-to-C) at high current densities is in essential demand for the practical application of the resultant valuable products, yet it remains challenging to conduct due to the lack of efficient electrocatalysts. Herein, three-dimensional ordered porous cuprous oxide cuboctahedra (3DOP CuO-CO) were designed and synthesized by a molecular fence-assisted hard templating approach. Capitalizing on the merits of interconnected and uniformly distributed pore channels, 3DOP CuO-CO exhibited outstanding electrochemical CO-to-C conversion, achieving faradaic efficiency and partial current density for C products of up to 81.

V-doped porous CoP nanoarrays grown on carbon cloth with optimized electronic structure for the hydrogen evolution reaction.

As an efficient, renewable and clean energy, hydrogen is expected to replace traditional fossil fuel energy in the future. Currently, platinum-based materials (Pt) are excellent electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), but their high cost and low natural abundance limit their widespread application. Therefore, it is urgent to develop low-cost, highly efficient and earth-abundant electrocatalysts to replace the precious platinum-based materials.

The interfacial and assembly properties of producing silica nanoparticle at oil-water interface.

In multiphase materials, structured fluid-fluid interfaces can provide mechanical resistance against destabilization, applicable for conformance control, Pickering emulsion, liquid 3D printing and molding, Currently all research prepare the particle-ladened fluid-fluid interfaces by dispersing acquired particles to the immiscible interface, which limits their application in the harsh environment, such as oil reservoir which can impair particle stability and transport ability. Here, we investigated the interfacial and assembly properties of the interface where SiO nanoparticles (NPs) were produced. The experimental results show that ammonia as catalyst could accelerate the processes of silica NPs formation as well as the interfacial tension (IFT) evolution.

Multi-analyte sensing strategies towards wearable and intelligent devices.

Continuous efforts to produce functional nanomaterials and flexible/stretchable devices have promoted cumbersome, laboratorial, detection processes toward wearable and portable intelligent sensing approaches. Responding to the challenges of the multiple analytes, mixtures, and complex components of practical samples, sensing array and multivariate analysis techniques have a significant advantage in terms of superior analytical capabilities, , they are convenient, rapid, sensitive and have high-throughput for multi-analyte identification in food safety, clinical diagnoses, and environmental monitoring. Besides traditional molecular design and recognition mechanisms, materials with micro/nano structures also contribute to strong signals, sensitive responses, and novel properties.

High performance ozone decomposition over MnAl-based mixed oxide catalysts derived from layered double hydroxides.

Mesoporous and dispersed MnAl-based mixed metal oxide catalysts (Mn AlO) were fabricated the calcination of layered double hydroxide (LDH) precursors prepared by the coprecipitation method. Their physiochemical properties were characterized and their catalytic activities for ozone decomposition were evaluated. The results indicate that the prepared Mn AlO catalysts have excellent catalytic activity owing to their large specific surface area, abundant surface oxygen vacancies and lower average Mn oxidation states.

Quantitative prediction of CeO and LaAlO infrared spectra based on first-principles calculations.

Oxide crystals with specific infrared spectra are widely used in the optical energy industry. Conventional density functional theory calculations reveal various properties of oxide crystals, including their electronic band structure, electronic density of states, vibrational modes, phonon band structure, and phonon density of states, but only provide qualitative analyses of infrared spectra. Herein, we provide a theoretical approach to analyzing how the basic mechanisms of infrared absorption are affected by the above properties and then predicting quantitatively the infrared spectra.

Tunable uniaxial, area, and volume negative thermal expansion in quartz-like and diamond-like metal-organic frameworks.

This paper proposes that it will be an effective way to discover and explore organic negative thermal expansion (NTE) materials based on the specific topologies in inorganic NTE materials. Various NTE behaviors from the uniaxial, area, and volume-NTE can be achieved by adjusting the topology, for instance, quartz-like and diamond-like. Zn(ISN) and InH(BDC) metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with quartz-like topology have been studied by first principles calculations.

Improved efficiency and stability of flexible perovskite solar cells by a new spacer cation additive.

Flexible perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have attracted tremendous attention due to their potential application in portable and wearable electronics. However, the photoelectric conversion efficiency (PCE) of flexible PSCs is still far lower than that of usual rigid PSCs. Moreover, the mechanical stability of flexible PSCs cannot meet the needs of commercial applications because of the cracking of perovskite grains caused by bending stress.

Dynamic observation and motion tracking of individual gold atoms with HAADF-STEM imaging.

A modern aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) is used to study the motion of individual gold atoms on an amorphous carbon film. With a probe size of 0.7 Å, individual gold atoms are clearly resolved.

Molecular dynamics insight into viscosity reduction of hydrolysed polyacrylamide by using carbon quantum dots.

Hydrolysed polyacrylamide (HPAM) is widely used in many industrial fields where its rheological properties play a leading role. Recent discovery of the reduction of HPAM's viscosity by adding carbon quantum dots (CQDs), however, is controversial to the established theories. By using all atom molecular dynamics simulation with an OPLS-AA force field, this study aims to provide detailed molecular insight into such an uncommon phenomenon.

Spin-Torque Memristors Based on Perpendicular Magnetic Tunnel Junctions for Neuromorphic Computing.

Spin-torque memristors are proposed in 2009, and can provide fast, low-power, and infinite memristive behavior for neuromorphic computing and large-density non-volatile memory. However, the strict requirements of combining high magnetoresistance, stable domain wall pinning and current-induced switching in a single device pose difficulties in physical implementation. Here, a nanoscale spin-torque memristor based on a perpendicular-anisotropy magnetic tunnel junction with a CoFeB/W/CoFeB composite free layer structure is experimentally demonstrated.

Facile fabrication of a Janus mesh for water fluid unidirectional transportation.

A Janus membrane/mesh is a type of functional membrane/mesh composed of opposing wetting properties formed into a single layer in order to achieve novel properties. Janus membranes/meshes have attracted increasing attention from materials scientists due to their promising applications in the fields of microfluid transportation, water-oil separation and cleaning energy applications. Herein, we report a simple method to fabricate a Janus mesh by combining opposite wettability functions into one copper mesh substrate.

Thermally responsive AIE-active polyurethanes based on a tetraaniline derivative.

Polyurethanes with different soft-hard segment ratios were successfully synthesized, with an aggregation-induced-emission (AIE)-active tetraaniline derivative (NH-B-Ani-NH) as the hard segment. The resulting polyurethanes exhibited typical AIE features. The fluorescence intensities of polyurethane films changed with heat treatments.

Micro-Nano Hierarchical Structure Enhanced Strong Wet Friction Surface Inspired by Tree Frogs.

Superior wet attachment and friction performance without the need of special external or preloaded normal force, similar to the tree frog's toe pad, is highly essential for biomedical engineering, wearable flexible electronics, etc. Although various pillar surfaces are proposed to enhance wet adhesion or friction, their mechanisms remain on micropillar arrays to extrude interfacial liquid via an external force. Here, two-level micropillar arrays with nanocavities on top are discovered on the toe pads of a tree frog, and they exhibit strong boundary friction ≈20 times higher than dry and wet friction without the need of a special external or preloaded normal force.

A novel and fast method to prepare a Cu-supported α-SbS@CuSbS binder-free electrode for sodium-ion batteries.

Antimony sulfide (SbS) is a promising anode material for sodium-ion batteries due to its low cost and high theoretical specific capacity. However, poor stability and a complex preparation process limit its large-scale application. Herein, we prepare a binder-free composite electrode composed of amorphous (α-) SbS and copper antimony sulfide (CuSbS) through a simple closed-space sublimation (CSS) method.