A New Scalable Preparation of Metal Nanosheets: Potential Applications for Aqueous Zn‐Ion Batteries Anode

2D metal nanosheets are attractive for various applications stemming from the intriguing characteristics related with their dimensionality; however, their effective and scalable preparation remains a great challenge. Herein, a scalable preparation process of relatively active metal nanosheets (e.g., Zn, Al, and Cu) with the thickness down to several nanometers at low cost is demonstrated, which involves an initial self‐folding‐rolling step followed by the subsequent ultrasonication to exfoliate them without any etching step. The native oxide on the surface of the metals, which acts as a barrier between the adjacent metal layers, plays a special role in enabling the successful preparation of 2D metal nanosheets. As a demonstration for their practicability, a hierarchical Zn anode, which is constructed by the Zn microsheets coated with carbon (Zn MS@C) via in situ carbonization of carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) binder, is successfully implemented as anode for rechargeable aqueous Zn‐ion batteries. When applied in symmetrical battery, the Zn MS@C delivers a long lifespan of over 800 h at 0.2 mA cm^?2 with a capacity of 0.1 mA h cm^?2. Importantly, the full battery of MnO₂ || Zn MS@C also performs a high discharge capacity of 217.4 mA h g^?1 after 140 cycles at 300 mA g^?1.     

High Dielectric,Robust Composite Protective Layer for Dendrite‐Free and LiPF6 Degradation‐Free Lithium Metal Anode

The development of lithium metal anodes for next generation batteries remains a challenge. Uncontrolled Li dendrite growth not only induces severe safety issues but also leads to capacity fading by continuously consuming the electrolyte. This study demonstrates the design and fabrication of a composite protective layer composed of a high dielectric polymer, inorganic particles, and an electrolyte to overcome these obstacles. This layer not only suppresses dendrite growth, but also prevents LiPF₆ degradation. The electrolyte introduced in the protective layer remains within the coating layer after solvent removal and acts as an ion transport channel at the interface. This enables the protective layer to exhibit high ionic conductivity and mechanical strength. The composite protective layer, which exhibits synergistic soft‐rigid characteristics, is placed on the Li metal anode and facilitates superior interfacial stability during long‐term cycles. LiMn₂O₄/coated lithium full cells using the composite protective layer show a superior rate capability and enhanced capacity retention compared to the cells using a bare lithium anode. The proposed strategy opens new avenues to fabricate a sustainable composite protective layer that affords superior performance in lithium metal batteries.     

Functionalized Zn@ZnO Hexagonal Pyramid Array for Dendrite‐Free and Ultrastable Zinc Metal Anodes

Here, an electrode comprising a Zn hexagonal pyramid array (HPA) coated with a functionalized ZnO layer (Zn@ZnO HPA) is prepared using a periodic anodizing technique. The HPA structure markedly increases the electroactive surface area of Zn anode, thus decreasing the local current density. Furthermore, the functionalized ZnO coating layer has a gradient thickness that plays an important role in the selective deposition of Zn ions and the mitigation of side reactions at the interface. The electrochemical stability of the Zn@ZnO HPA electrode, which is closely related to the electroactive surface area and charge transfer resistance, is determined by the “split” value, i.e., ratio of current‐off to current‐on time, a parameter of the periodic anodizing process. Compared with the pristine Zn‐based symmetric cell, the Zn@ZnO HPA‐based symmetric cell is safely operated in the investigated experimental range with the 10‐fold improved running life and 25‐fold enhanced current density without Zn dendrite growth. Moreover, the Zn@ZnO HPA/MnO₂ battery exhibits outstanding long‐term cyclability (nearly 100%) with greater than 99% Coulombic efficiency after 1000 cycles at a current density of 9 A g^?1. This periodic anodizing technique for ultrastable Zn metal anodes is expected to contribute to the development of inherently safe energy storage systems.     

A Water Stable,Near‐Zero‐Strain O3‐Layered Titanium‐Based Anode for Long Cycle Sodium‐Ion Battery

Layered transition metal (TM) oxides of the stoichiometry Na_xMO₂ (M = TM) have shown great promise in sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs); however, they are extremely sensitive to moisture. To date, most reported titanium‐based layered anodes exhibit a P2‐type structure. In contrast, O3‐type compounds are rarely investigated and their synthesis is challenging due to their higher percentage of unstable Ti³⁺ than the P2 type. Here, a pure phase and highly crystalline O3‐type Na_0.73Li_0.36Ti_0.73O₂ with high performance is successfully proposed in SIBs. This material delivers a reversible capacity of 108 mAh g^?1 with a stable and safe potential of 0.75 V versus Na/Na⁺. In situ X‐ray diffraction reveals that this material does not undergo any phase transitions and exhibits a near‐zero volume change upon Na⁺ insertion/de‐insertion, which ensures exceptional long cycle life over 6000 cycles. Importantly, it is found that this O3‐Na_0.73Li_0.36Ti_0.73O₂ shows superior moisture stability, even when immersed into water, which are both elusive for conventional layered TM oxides in SIBs. It is believed that the small interlayer distance and high occupation of interlayer vacancy promise such unprecedented water stability.     

A Mixed Lithium‐Ion Conductive Li2S/Li2Se Protection Layer for Stable Lithium Metal Anode

Constructing artificial solid‐electrolyte interphase (SEI) on the surface of Li metal is an effective approach to improve ionic conductivity of surface SEI and buffer Li dendrite growth of Li metal anode. However, constructing of homogenous ideal artificial SEI is still a great challenge. Here, a mixed lithium‐ion conductive Li₂S/Li₂Se (denoted as LSSe) protection layer, fabricated by a facile and inexpensive gas–solid reaction, is employed to construct stable surface SEI with high ionic conductivity. The Li₂S/Li₂Se‐protected Li metal (denoted as LSSe@Li) exhibits a stable dendrite‐free cycling behavior over 900 h with a high lithium stripping/plating capacity of 3 mAh cm^?2 at 1.5 mA cm^?2 in the symmetrical cell. Compared to bare Li anode, full batteries paired with LiFePO₄, sulfur/carbon, and LiNi_0.6Co_0.2Mn_0.2O₂ cathodes all present better battery cycling and rate performance when LSSe@Li anode is used. Moreover, Li₂Se exhibits a lower lithium‐ion migration energy barrier in comparison with Li₂S which is proved by density functional theory calculation.     

Electronic Structure Regulation of Layered Vanadium Oxide via Interlayer Doping Strategy toward Superior High‐Rate and Low‐Temperature Zinc‐Ion Batteries

Currently, development of suitable cathode materials for zinc‐ion batteries (ZIBs) is plagued by the sluggish kinetics of Zn²⁺ with multivalent charge in the host structure. Herein, it is demonstrated that interlayer Mn²⁺‐doped layered vanadium oxide (Mn_0.15V₂O₅·nH₂O) composites with narrowed direct bandgap manifest greatly boosted electrochemical performance as zinc‐ion battery cathodes. Specifically, the Mn_0.15V₂O₅·nH₂O electrode shows a high specific capacity of 367 mAh g^?1 at a current density of 0.1 A g^?1 as well as excellent retentive capacities of 153 and 122 mAh g^?1 after 8000 cycles at high current densities up to 10 and 20 A g^?1, respectively. Even at a low temperature of ?20 °C, a reversible specific capacity of 100 mAh g^?1 can be achieved at a current density of 2.0 A g^?1 after 3000 cycles. The superior electrochemical performance originates from the synergistic effects between the layered nanostructures and interlayer doping of Mn²⁺ ions and water molecules, which can enhance the electrons/ions transport kinetics and structural stability during cycling. With the aid of various ex situ characterization technologies and density functional theory calculations, the zinc‐ion storage mechanism can be revealed, which provides fundamental guidelines for developing high‐performance cathodes for ZIBs.     

A Li–Al–O Solid‐State Electrolyte with High Ionic Conductivity and Good Capability to Protect Li Anode

Using a solid‐state electrolyte (SSE) to stabilize the Li metal anode is widely considered a promising route to develop next‐generation high energy density lithium batteries. Here, a new polycrystalline aluminate‐based SSE (named Li–Al–O SSE) with good capability is introduced to protect Li metal. The SSE is formed on the Li metal surface via a chemical reaction between LiOH and triethylaluminum (TEAL) with the existence of LiTFSI‐based electrolyte. It is a continuous film that consists of polycrystalline LiAlO₂, Li₃AlO₃, Al₂O₃, Li₂CO₃, LiF, and some organic compounds. Such Li–Al–O SSE possesses a room‐temperature ionic conductivity as high as 1.42 × 10^?4 S cm^?1. Meanwhile, it effectively protects the Li anode from the corrosion of H₂O, O₂, and organic solvent, and suppresses the growth of Li dendrite. With the protection of the Li–Al–O SSE, the cycle life of Li|Li symmetric cell and Li|O₂ cell is substantially elongated, indicating that the SSE exhibits an excellent protective effect under both inert and oxidizing circumstances.     

Biphase Cobalt–Manganese Oxide with High Capacity and Rate Performance for Aqueous Sodium‐Ion Electrochemical Energy Storage

Manganese‐based metal oxide electrode materials are of great importance in electrochemical energy storage for their favorable redox behavior, low cost, and environmental friendliness. However, their storage capacity and cycle life in aqueous Na‐ion electrolytes is not satisfactory. Herein, the development of a biphase cobalt–manganese oxide (Co? Mn? O) nanostructured electrode material is reported, comprised of a layered MnO₂?H₂O birnessite phase and a (Co_0.83Mn_0.13Va_0.04)_tetra(Co_0.38Mn_1.62)_octaO_3.72 (Va: vacancy; tetra: tetrahedral sites; octa: octahedral sites) spinel phase, verified by neutron total scattering and pair distribution function analyses. The biphase Co? Mn? O material demonstrates an excellent storage capacity toward Na‐ions in an aqueous electrolyte (121 mA h g^?1 at a scan rate of 1 mV s^?1 in the half‐cell and 81 mA h g^?1 at a current density of 2 A g^?1 after 5000 cycles in full‐cells), as well as high rate performance (57 mA h g^?1 a rate of 360 C). Electrokinetic analysis and in situ X‐ray diffraction measurements further confirm that the synergistic interaction between the spinel and layered phases, as well as the vacancy of the tetrahedral sites of spinel phase, contribute to the improved capacity and rate performance of the Co? Mn? O material by facilitating both diffusion‐limited redox and capacitive charge storage processes.     

A new feature extraction and attacking node classification framework using PDCFE‐HPSMM model in cognitive radio networks

The increasing demand of wireless communication introduces a challenge to an effective spectrum utilization. In wireless communication systems, the Cognitive Radio (CR) has emerged as a new key technology to address this issue, which allows an opportunistic access to the spectrum. The CRs form a CRN by extending the radio link features to network layer functions. The existing CR based wireless communication techniques has some drawbacks such as, inability to differentiate interference or noise from primary signals, it does not distinguish the different types of noise, low performance, not effective in spread spectrum detection, long observation time and high computational cost. To overwhelm these disadvantages, a novel method, namely, partial distribution based cyclostationary feature extraction–hidden probability state Markov model (PDCFE‐HPSMM) is proposed in this work. The main intention of this technique is to extract the node features, classify the attacker nodes and predict the licensed and unlicensed bandwidth. At first, the CRN is formed with some set of CR nodes, and the communication links between the nodes are estimated. Then, the node features are extracted by employing the PDCFE technique. After that, the attacking nodes are classified based on those features with the help of a HPSMM classification technique. If the attacker is present in the network, the link between the attacking nodes to other nodes is disconnected; otherwise, the communication link is updated. In this work, the Rayleigh channels are used to predict the licensed and unlicensed bandwidth. Again, the HPSMM model is employed to optimally select the channel, and the scheduling technique is implemented to check the status of the channel for message transmission. If the channel is not busy, the message signals are multiplexed and transmitted to the receiver via the selected channel. The novel concept of this paper is, the proposed PDCFE technique extracts the features of the nodes in CRN; based on these features, the attacker nodes in the network are classified with the help of HPSMM technique. Moreover, the HPSMM is used to select the optimal channel for message transmission. The experimental results evaluate the performance of the proposed system in terms of bit error rate (BER), error rate, relay, false detection rate (FDR) and cumulative distribution function (CDF). Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.