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Aqueous zinc (Zn) battery with remarkable advantages of high safety, low cost, and high reversibility is highly applauded in next‐generation low‐speed electric vehicles and large‐scale energy storage applications. However, Zn anode suffers from a series of unfavorable reactions, hindering its progress toward industrialization. Herein, a functionalized hydrogel film is designed using polydopamine and polyacrylamide crosslinking (PDAM) as the Zn protective layer to stabilize the Zn anode. Benefiting from the strong interaction of Zn2+ with PDAM, the primary solvation shell of Zn2+ is regulated by PDAM into the form of PDAM–Zn2+‐5H2O. This remodeling prevents Zn dendrite growth and inhibits water‐induced side reactions. As a result, the Zn–MnO2 battery using PDAM‐coated Zn anode exhibits excellent cycling stability, demonstrating over 1150 cycles at an areal capacity of 5 mAh cm−2 with an average Coulombic efficiency (CE) of 96.5%. For a scaled‐up PDAM@Zn–MnO2 pouch cell with a capacity of 80 mAh, stable cycling of over 200 cycles with an average CE of 91.9% is achieved. The superior Zn–MnO2 battery enabled by the functionalized hydrogel protective film enlightens an arena toward next‐generation energy storage applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aqueous zinc–chlorine battery with high discharge voltage and attractive theoretical energy density is expected to become an important technology for large‐scale energy storage. However, the practical application of Zn–Cl2 batteries has been restricted due to the Cl2 cathode with sluggish kinetics and low Coulombic efficiency (CE). Here, an aqueous Zn–Cl2 battery using an inexpensive and effective MnO2 redox adsorbent (referred to Zn‐Cl2@MnO2 battery) to modulate the electrochemical performance of the Cl2 cathode is developed. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the existence of the intermediate state Clads free radical catalyzed by MnO2 on the Cl2 cathode contributes to the charge storage capacity, which is the key to modulate the electrode and improve the electrochemical performance. Further analysis of the Cl2 cathode kinetics discloses the adsorption and catalytic roles of the MnO2 redox adsorbent. The Zn–Cl2@MnO2 battery displays an enhanced discharge voltage of 2.0 V at a current density of 2.5 mA cm−2, and stable 1000 cycles with an average CE of 91.6%, much superior to the conventional Zn–Cl2 battery with an average CE of only 66.8%. The regulation strategy to the Cl2 cathode provides opportunities for the future development of aqueous Zn‐Cl2 batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metallic aluminum is an attractive anode owing to its high specific capacity, earth abundance, and low cost. However, the poor reversibility of Al deposition/dissolution and Al dendrites have impeded its deployment. Herein, a strategy for constructing a lattice‐matching layer (LML) to regulate the behavior of Al deposition/dissolution is demonstrated. Various experiments and theoretical calculations validate that gold LML as an example can significantly enhance the nucleation density and reduce average particle size, which achieve highly reversible, dendrite‐free, durable, and anode‐free Al anodes. The metallic Al shows stable Al deposition/dissolution on Au@Ti substrate for more than 4500 h with an average Coulombic efficiency of 99.92%, which is a record‐high reported value. Furthermore, the anode‐free full cell based on Au@Ti anode and expanded graphite cathode exhibits outstanding long‐term stability for 900 cycles with the capacity retention rate of 80%. This study provides an effective strategy to enhance the reversibility and utilization of the Al anode, which provides inspiration for advanced Al batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, Au–CuxOy hybrid nanoparticle-encapsulated hollow porous silica nanospheres (Au–CuxOy in HPSNs) were synthesized by immobilizing the catalytic functionality inside hollow cavities by using polyethyleneimine in a reverse microemulsion system as the void template as well as the platform to deliver the metals into the central voids. Compared with individual Au in HPSNs and CuxOy in HPSNs, the prepared Au–CuxOy in HPSNs demonstrate significantly improved catalytic efficiency for the reduction of various nitrophenols with NaBH4. At the molar ratio of 4-nitrophenol/Au of 30/1, the 4-nitrophenol conversions over Au–CuxOy in HPSNs reach 100% within 5.5 min, and catalytic efficiency is maintained during five cycles of catalytic reactions. The enhanced performance can be ascribed to the synergistic effect between Au and CuxOy, and the protection of silica shells to inner Au–CuxOy improve their catalytic stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural batteries are attractive for weight reduction in vehicles, such as cars and airplanes, which requires batteries to have both excellent mechanical properties and electrochemical performance. This work develops a scalable and feasible tree‐root‐like lamination at the electrode/separator interface, which effectively transfers load between different layers of battery components and thus dramatically enhances the flexural modulus of pouch cells from 0.28 to 3.1 GPa. The underlying mechanism is also analyzed by finite element simulations. Meanwhile, the interfacial lamination has a limited effect on the electrochemical performance of Li‐ion cells. A graphite/LiNi0.5Mn0.3Co0.2O2 full cell with such interfacial lamination delivers a steady discharge capacity of 148.6 mAh g−1 at C/2 and 95.5% retention after 500 cycles. Moreover, the specific energy only decreases by 3%, which is the smallest reduction reported so far in structural batteries. A prototype of "electric wings" is also demonstrated, which allows an aircraft model to fly steadily. This work illustrates that engineering interfacial adhesion is an effective and scalable approach to develop structural batteries with excellent mechanical and electrochemical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transient receptor potential cation channel, vanilloid type (TRPV) 3, is a member of the TRPV subfamily that is expressed predominantly in the skin, hair follicles, and gastrointestinal tract. It is also distributed in the organ of Corti of the inner ear and colocalizes with TRPV1 or TRPV4, but its role in auditory function is unknown. In the present study, we demonstrate that TRPV3 is expressed in inner hair cells (HCs) but mainly in cochlear outer HCs in mice, with expression limited to the cytoplasm and not detected in stereocilia. We compared the number of HCs as well as distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) and auditory brainstem response (ABR) thresholds between TRPV3 knockout (V3KO) and wild-type (V3WT) mice and found that although most mutants (72.3%) had normal hearing, a significant proportion (27.7%) showed impaired hearing associated with loss of cochlear HCs. Compensatory upregulation of TRPV4 in HCs prevented HC damage and kanamycin-induced hearing loss and preserved normal auditory function in most of these mice. Thus, TRPV4 and TRPV3 in cochlear HCs protect hearing in mice; moreover, the results suggest some functional redundancy in the functions of TRPV family members. Our findings provide novel insight into the molecular basis of auditory function in mammals that can be applied to the development of strategies to mitigate hearing loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aimed to assess the effectiveness and safety of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines for pregnant women in real-world studies. We searched for observational studies about the effectiveness and safety of COVID-19 vaccines among vaccinated pregnant women from inception to 6 November 2021. A total of 6 studies were included. We found that vaccination prevented pregnant women from SARS-CoV-2 infection (OR = 0.50, 95% CI, 0.35–0.79) and COVID-19-related hospitalization (OR = 0.50, 95% CI, 0.31–0.82). Messenger-RNA vaccines could reduce the risk of infection in pregnant women (OR = 0.13, 95% CI, 0.03–0.57). No adverse events of COVID-19 vaccination were found on pregnant, fetal, or neonatal outcomes. Our analysis confirmed the effectiveness and safety of COVID-19 vaccines for pregnant women. Policy makers should formulate targeted strategies to improve vaccine coverage in pregnant women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]