Effect of LiTFSI and LiFSI on Cycling Performance of Lithium Metal Batteries Using Thermoplastic Polyurethane/Halloysite Nanotubes Solid Electrolyte

All-solid-state lithium batteries(ASSLB) are promising candidates for next-generation energy storage devices.Nevertheless,the large-scale commercial application of high energy density AS S LB with the polymer electrolyte still faces challenges.In this study,a thin solid polymer composite electrolyte(SPCE) is prepared through a facile and cost-effective strategy with an infiltration of thermoplastic polyurethane(TPU),lithium salt(LiTFSI or LiFSI),and halloysite nanotubes(HNTs) in a porous framework of polyethylene separator(PE)(TPU-HNTs-LiTFSI-PE or TPU-HNTs-LiFSI-PE).The composition,electrochemical performance,and especially the effect of anions(TFSI~-and FSI~-) on cycling performance are investigated.The results reveal that the flexible TPU-HNTs-LiTFSI-PE and TPU-HNTs-LiFSI-PE with a thickness of 34 μm exhibit wide electrochemical windows of 4.9 and 5.1 V(vs.Li+/Li) at 60℃,respectively.Reduction in FSI~-tends to form more LiF and sulfur compounds at the interface between TPU-HNTs-LiFSI-PE and Li metal anode,thus enhancing the interfacial stability.As a result,cell composed of TPU-HNTs-LiFSI-PE exhibits a smaller increase in interfacial resistance of solid electrolyte interphase(SEI) with a distinct decrease in charge-transfer resistance during cycling.Li|Li symmetric cell with TPU-HNTs-LiFSI-PE could keep its stable overpotential profile for nearly 1300 h with a low hysteresis of approximately39 mV at a current density of 0.1 mA cm~(-2),while a sudden voltage rise with internal cell impedance-surge signals was observed within 600 h for cell composed of TPU-HNTs-LiTFSI-PE.The initial capacities of NCMITPU-HNTs-LiTFSIPEILi and NCMITPU-HNTs-LiFSI-PEILi cells were 149 and 114 mAh g~(-1),with capacity retention rates of 83.52% and89.99% after 300 cycles at 0.5 C,respectively.This study provides a valuable guideline for designing flexible SPCE,which shows great application prospect in the practice of ASSLB.     

Efficient polysulfides conversion on Mo2CTxMXene for highperformance lithium–sulfur batteries

The severe shuttle effect and sluggish redox kinetics of polysulfides hinder the application of lithium–sulfur batteries.Herein,delaminated Mo₂CT_x MXene nanosheets are derived by chemical etching approach and further applied as a sulfur host for sulfur spheres(S@Mo₂CT_x).In the MXene encapsulated architecture,the external MXene nanosheets not only immobilize the soluble polysulfides by strong chemical adsorption but also efficiently catalyze the liquid–liquid conversion and liquid–solid nucleation process of lithium polysulfides.In addition,the S@Mo₂CT_x electrode delivered fast charge and lithium-ion transport due to the superior electric conductivity and low lithiumion diffusion energy barrier of MXene nanosheets.As a result,the S@Mo₂CT_x electrode exhibits a high reversible capacity of 918 mAh·g^-1 at 1.0C with good cycling stability and a high areal capacity of 7.0 mAh·cm^-2 with sulfur loading of 7.4 mg·cm^-2 under a lean electrolyte condition.     

The precursor compound of two types of ZnSe magic-sized clusters

Precursor compounds(PCs)link quantum dots(QDs)and magic-sized clusters(MSCs),which is pivotal in the conversion between QDs and MSCs.Here,for the first time,we report the transformation,synthesis,and composition of a type of ZnSe PCs.ZnSe PCs can be directly transformed to two different MSCs with the assistance of octylamine and acetic acid at room temperature.The two types of MSCs exhibit sharp absorption peaks at 299 and 328 nm which are denoted as MSC-299 and MSC-328.In the preparation of ZnSe PCs,diphenylphosphine(DPP)as an additive plays a key role which not only inhibits the thermal decomposition of Zn precursor,but also acts as a reducing agent to reduce the by-products produced in the reaction.The composition was explored by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy,energy dispersive spectrometer,matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectra with ZnSe PC powder appeared as white powder after purifying by toluene(Tol)and methanol(MeOH).The results indicate that the molar ratio of Zn/Se is 2:1 with a molecular of?3,350 Da.Therefore,we propose that the molecular formula of ZnSe PCs is Zn₃₂Se₁₆.In addition,at the molecular level,the covalent bond of Zn-Se is formed in ZnSe PCs.This study offers a deeper understanding of the transformation from PCs to MSCs and for the first time proposes the composition of PCs.Meanwhile,this research provides us with a new understanding of the role of DPP in the synthesis of colloidal semiconductor nanoparticles.     

In-situ imaging the electrochemical reactions of Li-CO2 nanobatteries at high temperatures in an aberration corrected environmental transmission electron microscope

Rechargeable lithium-carbon dioxide(Li-CO₂)batteries have attracted much attention due to their high theoretical energy densities and capture of C0₂.However,the electrochemical reaction mechanisms of rechargeable Lo-CO₂ batteries,particularly the decomposition mechanisms of the discharge product Li₂CO₃ are still unclear,impeding their practical applications.Exploring electrochemistry of Li₂CO₃ is critical for improving the performance of Li-C0₂ batteries.Herein,in-situ environmental transmission electron microscopy(ETEM)technique was used to study electrochemistry of Li₂CO₃ in Li-C0₂ batteries during discharge and charge processes.During discharge,Li₂CO₃ was nucleated and accumulated on the surface of the cathode media such as carbon nanotubes(CNTs)and Ag nanowires(Ag NWs),but it was hard to decompose during charging at room temperature.To promote the decomposition of Li2C03,the charge reactions were conducted at high temperatures,during which Li₂CO₃ was decomposed to lithium with release of gases.Density functional theory(DFT)calculations revealed that the synergistic effect of temperature and biasing facilitates the decomposition of Li₂CO₃.This study not only provides a fundamental understanding to the high temperature Li-C0₂ nanobatteries,but also offers a valid technique,i.e.,discharging/charging at high temperatures,to improve the cyclability of Li-CO₂ batteries for energy storage applications.     

High mass loading Ni4Co1-OH@CuO core-shell nanowire arrays obtained by electrochemical reconstruction for alkaline energy storage

The design of three-dimensional(30)core-shell hetercistructures is an efficient method to achieve high mass specific capacity of electroactive materials under high mass loading.In this work,porous Ni₄Co1-0H nanosheets with a mass loading of 7.7 mg·cm^-2 are obtained by using Ni₄Cor(NO₃)₂(0H)₄ supported on the CuO nanowires as precursors via an unavoidable electrochemically induced phase reconstruction.During the electrochemical reconstruction process,the N03-anions in Ni₄Cor(N0₃)₂(0H)₄ are easily replaced by OH-anions in the electrolyte.The phase reconstruction is accompanied by the decrease of ionic diffusion.:resistance and the increase of pore volume,and the shift of binding energy.The obtained Ni4Co1-0H nanosheets show a high:mass specific capacity of 363.6 mAh·g^-1 at 5 mA·cm^-2.The as-fabricated alkaline hybrid supercapacitor and Ni-Zn battery deliver high energy density of 293.1 and 604.9 Wh·kg^-1,respectively,indicating.excellent alkaline energy storage performance.     

Passive Beamforming Design for Intelligent Reflecting Surface Assisted MIMO Systems

Intelligent reflecting surfaces(IRSs)constitute passive devices,which are capable of adjusting the phase shifts of their reflected signals,and hence they are suitable for passive beamforming.In this paper,we conceive their design with the active beamforming action of multiple-input multipleoutput(MIMO)systems used at the access points(APs)for improving the beamforming gain,where both the APs and users are equipped with multiple antennas.Firstly,we decouple the optimization problem and design the active beamforming for a given IRS configuration.Then we transform the optimization problem of the IRS-based passive beamforming design into a tractable non-convex quadratically constrained quadratic program(QCQP).For solving the transformed problem,we give an approximate solution based on the technique of widely used semidefinite relaxation(SDR).We also propose a low-complexity iterative solution.We further prove that it can converge to a locally optimal value.Finally,considering the practical scenario of discrete phase shifts at the IRS,we give the quantization design for IRS elements on basis of the two solutions.Our simulation results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed solutions over the relevant benchmarks.     

Black phosphorus junctions and their electrical and optoelectronic applications

Black phosphorus(BP),an emerging two-dimensional material,is considered a promising candidate for next-genera-tion electronic and optoelectronic devices due to in-plane anisotropy,high mobility,and direct bandgap.However,BP devices face challenges due to their limited stability,photo-response speed,and detection range.To enhance BP with powerful electric-al and optical performance,the BP heterostructures can be created.In this review,the state-of-the-art heterostructures and their electrical and optoelectronic applications based on black phosphorus are discussed.Five parts introduce the perform-ance of BP-based devices,including black phosphorus sandwich structure by hBN with better stability and higher mobility,black phosphorus homojunction by dual-gate structure for optical applications,black phosphorus heterojunction with other 2D materials for faster photo-detection,black phosphorus heterojunction integration with 3D bulk material,and BP via As-doping tunable bandgap enabling photo-detection up to 8.2 μm.Finally,we discuss the challenges and prospects for BP electric-al and optical devices and applications.     

Orientation Dependence of the Micro-Pillar Compression Strength in an Electron Beam Melted Ti–6Al–4V Alloy

An α/β two-phase Ti-6 Al-4 V alloy was fabricated by electron beam melting to obtain a basketweave structure.The orientation dependence of the mechanical properties of Ti-6 Al-4 V alloy was studied by micro-pillar compression and post-mortem transmission electron microscopy analysis.The results indicate that different grains have different mechanical responses,and the possible attributions were discussed.Besides the orientation effect,due to the limited volumes of micropillars,the size of the a phases,dispersion of the β phases,and the presence of the free dislocation path also affect the mechanical properties of the micropillars to a large extent.Although no direct link was discovered between the mechanical properties and the parent βorientations,this work provided a promising method to further study the anisotropic mechanical behavior in Ti-6 Al-4 V alloy.     

Mechanism analysis of solvent selectivity and energy-saving optimization in vapor recompression-assisted extractive distillation for separation of binary azeotrope

Octane and p-xylene are common components in crude gasoline, so their separation process is very important in petroleum industry. The azeotrope and near azeotrope are often separated by extractive distillation in industry, which can realize the recovery and utilization of resources. In this work, the vapor–liquid equilibrium experiment was used to obtain the vapor–liquid equilibrium properties of the difficult separation system, and on this basis, the solvent extraction mechanism was studied. The mechanism of solvent separation plays a guiding role in selecting suitable solvents for industrial separation. The interaction energy, bond length and charge density distribution of p-xylene with solvent are calculated by quantum chemistry method. The quantum chemistry calculation results and experiment results showed that N-formylmorpholine is the best solvent among the alternative solvents in the work. This work provides an effective and complete solvent screening process from phase equilibrium experiments to quantum chemical calculation. An extractive distillation simulation process with N-formylmorpholine as solvent is designed to separate octane and p-xylene. In addition, the feasibility and effectiveness of the intensified vapor recompression assisted extraction distillation are also discussed. In the extractive distillation process, the vapor recompression-assisted extraction distillation process is globally optimal. Compared with basic process, the total annual cost can be reduced by 43.2%. This study provides theoretical guidance for extractive distillation separation technology and solvent selection.     

Superhigh selective capture of volatile organic compounds exploiting cigarette butts-derived engineering carbonaceous adsorbent

Herein, we develop cost-efficient superhigh-performance of engineering carbonaceous adsorbent from cigarette butts using combined wet-impregnated and re-dispersed method of KOH, which optimizes the implant approach of activator, breaking the restriction of selective capture of toluene using traditional activated carbon. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area and pore volume of targeted adsorbent can attain 3088 m²·g^-1 and 1.61 cm³·g^-1, respectively, by optimizing the temperature-dependent synthetic factor effect of the adsorbent. The adsorption capacity of resultant adsorbent for presenting volatile benzene and toluene shows a positive correlation with increasing carbonization temperature of carbon precursor. Besides, we demonstrated the unsmoked and smoked butts derived adsorbents afford feeble difference in saturated adsorbed capacity of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The highest adsorption capacity of sample CF-800 for benzene and toluene in CF group is as high as 1268.1 and 1181.6 mg·g^-1 respectively, slightly higher than that of sample UF-800, but far outperforming reported other adsorbents. The predicted adsorption selectivity of CF-800 and UF-800 for C₇H₈/H₂O (g) using the DIH (difference of isosteric heats) equation reach up to ca. 3800 and 7500 respectively, indicating the weak adsorbability of water vapor on the developed adsorbent and greater superiority of the smoked butts derived adsorbents in selective capture of VOCs at low relative humidity in the competitive adsorption process for practical mixed VOCs.