Search

Lithium–Sulfur (Li─S) batteries are renowned for their high theoretical specific capacity and cost‐effectiveness. Nevertheless, their performance could be impeded by obstacles including lithium dendrite growth and lithium polysulfide (LiPS) shuttle, particularly under harsh conditions. Herein, an economical strategy is reported for modifying polyolefin separators (PP) with covalent organic polymer networks (TPE) to alter Li solvent structure, enhance lithium‐ion transport, and suppress shuttle effects. Combining in situ/ex situ characterization and theoretical calculations, it is demonstrated that the lithiophilic groups (‐C═N‐) in the TPE@PP separator form strong interaction with lithium, facilitating the dissociation of Li─Solvent/LiPS‐solvent to release freer lithium ion and shape a stable solid electrolyte interface rich in LiF and Li3N. The polymer network serves as a "highway" that accelerates Li transport and promotes uniform nucleation behavior. Therefore, the Li|TPE@PP|CNT/S cell enables 60% capacity retention after 2000 cycles at 1.0 C and exhibits stable cycling performance of 100 cycles from ‐40 to 80 °C. Moreover, the pouch cell maintains a capacity of more than 600 mA h g−1 after 30 cycles at 0 °C. This study provides a promising avenue for the application of high‐performance batteries in harsh environment from the perspective of separator engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single‐component white‐light emitters are ideal for solid‐state lighting applications. Here, the dual‐emission white light in the 3D Cs2NaInCl6:0.1 Sb3+ crystal is successfully achieved by the high‐pressure treatment strategy. Upon compression, the remarkable self‐trapped exciton (STE) emission enhancement is observed at 20.6 GPa due to the tilting and twisting of inorganic octahedron caused by the phase transition of Cs2NaInCl6:0.1 Sb3+ crystal. Intriguingly, after undergoing the high‐pressure treatment, in addition to the blue high‐energy emission from the STEs, [SbCl6]3− exhibits the orange low‐energy emission from STEs, which is ascribed to the remaining local distortion of inorganic octahedron resulting from the presence of residual amorphous phase in the local region upon decompression. Furthermore, coherent phonon generation and density functional theory calculations indicate that the electrons exhibit a strong coupling to A1g stretch mode and T2gIn bending mode in Cs2NaInCl6:0.1 Sb3+. After high‐pressure treatment, the coupling between the electrons and the T2gIn bending mode disappears, suggesting local octahedral symmetry disruption due to residual amorphous structures induced by high‐pressure treatment. This work unveils the relationship between the electron‐phonon coupling and the STE emission and offers a new strategy to design and synthesize the new single‐component white‐light metal halide perovskites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simultaneously attaining high gravimetric energy density (Eg) and volumetric energy density (Ev) in lithium‐sulfur (Li–S) batteries is a longstanding challenge that has to be solved for practical application, which demands breakthroughs in electrode materials with optimized functionality and structure. Herein, anthraquinone‐containing, reactive‐type polymer tubes (PQT) that can be used to regulate the redox chemistry of sulfur species are designed and prepared for practical Li–S batteries. PQT favors a similar redox potential window as sulfur, which effectively facilitates the immobilization and conversion of sulfur species through a reversible lithiation/delithiation process. Its tubular structure and high tap density is vital to the fabrication of intact electrode with high sulfur loading and minimizing electrolyte intake during battery operation. With all these contributions, Li–S battery with PQT/S cathode exhibits a stable cycling capacity (73% at 2.0 C over 1000 cycles), remarkable rate performance (514.2 mAh g−1 at 10 C), and a high areal capacity of 7.20 mAh g−1 with high sulfur loading under lean electrolyte condition. More importantly, the assembled Li–S pouch cell delivers an Eg of 329 Wh kg−1 and an Ev of 401 Wh L−1, which meets the requirement for practical operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute thrombosis is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Pharmacological thrombolysis relies on plasminogen activators (PAs), which are associated with major side effects including potentially fatal bleeding. Alternative therapeutic options that do not rely on PAs are urgently required. Here, the efficacy of targeted photothermal therapy is evaluated for thrombolysis using liposomes loaded with IR780 dye, which release heat upon near‐infrared (NIR) irradiation. Liposomes targeted to activated platelets—one of the main components of thrombi—accumulate preferentially in thrombi both in vitro and in vivo compared to non‐targeted controls. In a mouse model of thrombosis, targeted IR780 immunoliposomes (Tar‐IR‐L) produce ≈12 °C average local temperature increase upon NIR irradiation (5 min, 1 W cm−2). This causes a significant reduction in clot area compared to controls treated with non‐targeted liposomes or phosphate‐buffered saline, which only increase local temperature slightly (6 and 3 °C) when irradiated. Co‐loading a low‐dose single chain urokinase plasminogen activator (scuPA) to targeted IR780 liposomes (Tar‐scuPA‐IR‐L) does not result in a superior thrombolytic effect, which indicates that photothermal therapy alone may allow thrombolysis without the need for fibrinolytic drugs. This approach may prevent potential bleeding complications, promising a safer alternative to current pharmacological approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sodium super ionic conductor (NASICON)‐type Li1.3Al0.3Ti1.7(PO4)3 (LATP) is one of the most promising solid‐state electrolytes (SSEs) owing to its high Li‐ion conductivity, high stability with air, and low cost. However, LATP is less widely deployed due to its high incompatibility with lithium metal. Herein, a facile and inexpensive spray‐coating approach is proposed to construct a thin 3D organic/inorganic composite layer of a commercial boron nitride‐based release agent (BNRA) onto LATP. Apart from protecting LATP, this interfacial BNRA layer enables Li‐ion migration through BN defects and affords low resistance at BNRA/Li interface due to in situ formation of Li–N. Compared to bare LATP, which fails to support Li stripping–plating process in a lean‐lithium Li/Li symmetric cell (2 µm), BNRA‐LATP runs for ≈1800 h. The assembled lean‐lithium LiFePO4 (LFP)/BNRA‐LATP/Li solid state batteries (SSBs) deliver a specific capacity of 150.9 mA h g–1 at 0.5 C with minor capacity decay after 500 cycles. Besides, the BNRA layer eliminates thermal runaway risks of LATP‐based SSBs by fast in‐plane thermal dispersion. This work demonstrates a facile LATP‐protection strategy regarding Li incompatibility and thermal runway issues, and pinpoints the interfacial formation mechanism, fulfilling the pursuit of high‐performance low‐cost SSEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carrier doping is the basis of the modern semiconductor industry. Great efforts are put into the control of carrier doping for 2D semiconductors, especially the layered transition metal dichalcogenides. Here, the direct laser patterning of WSe2 devices via light‐induced hole doping is systematically studied. By changing the laser power, scan speed, and the number of irradiation times, different levels of hole doping can be achieved in the pristine electron‐transport‐dominated WSe2, without obvious sample thinning. Scanning transmission electron microscopy characterization reveals that the oxidation of the laser‐radiated WSe2 is the origin of the carrier doping. Photocurrent mapping shows that after the same amount of laser irradiation, with increasing thickness, the laser patterned PN junction changes from the pure lateral to the vertical‐lateral hybrid structure, accompanied by the decrease in the open circuit voltage. The vertical‐lateral hybrid PN junction can be tuned to a pure lateral one by further irradiation, showing possibilities to construct complex junction profiles. Moreover, a NOR gate circuit is demonstrated by direct patterning of p‐doped channels using laser irradiation without introducing passive layers and metal electrodes with different work functions. This method simplifies device fabrication procedures and shows a promising future in large scale logic circuit applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ever‐developing energy storage technologies demand the pursuit of advanced materials with multiple functionalities. Recent studies revealed that multiple heteroatom‐doped carbon has been wildly used for bi‐functional or even tri‐functional energy storage and conversion. However, few efforts have been made to uncover the origin of multi‐functionalities. Herein, a nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur tri‐doped carbon is designed in this work with large porosity, rich heteroatoms doping and high mass density, exhibiting excellent bifunctionalities on supercapacitors and oxygen reduction reaction. Importantly, the density functional theory calculations demonstrate the relevant co‐doping and tri‐doping generate more active sites on neighboring carbon atoms than single doping, and the same type of active sites may enhance bifunctionalities simultaneously. The present investigations provide a promising guidance on the design of multi‐functional materials for future energy storage and conversion applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In recent years, heterostructures formed in transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have attracted significant attention due to their unique physical properties beyond the individual components. Atomically thin TMD heterostructures, such as MoS2‐WS2, MoS2‐MoSe2, MoS2‐WSe2, and WSe2‐WS2, are synthesized so far via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. Engineering the morphology of domains including size and shape, however, still remains challenging. Here, a one‐step CVD strategy on the morphology engineering of MoS2 and WS2 domains within the monolayer MoS2‐WS2 lateral heterostructures through controlling the weight ratio of precursors, MoO3 and WO3, as well as tuning the reaction temperature is reported. Not only can the size ratio in terms of area between WS2 and MoS2 domains be easily controlled from less than 1 to more than 20, but also the overall heterostructure size can be tuned from several to hundreds of micrometers. Intriguingly, the quantum well structure, a WS2 stripe embedded in the MoS2 matrix, is also observed in the as‐synthesized heterostructures, offering opportunities to study quantum confinement effects and quantum well applications. This approach paves the way for the large‐scale fabrication of MoS2‐WS2 lateral heterostructures with controllable domain morphology, and shall be readily extended to morphology engineering of other TMD heterostructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of achieving batteries with high energy density and high safety profile has been a driving force in developing all‐solid‐state lithium metal batteries (ASSLMBs). However, the complex issues arising from the interfacial interaction between lithium anode/cathode and solid‐state electrolytes (SSE) have hindered the progress of ASSLMBs. This study presents a strategy for constructing an organic/inorganic buffer layer via employing Li‐ion exchanging chemistry of H1.6Mn1.6O4 (HMO) with a flexible matrix of polyethylene oxide (PEO). The buffer layer shows a remarkable ion conductivity of 3.21 × 10−4 S cm−1 at 25 °C originating from the exceptional Li+‐H+ ion exchange capability of HMO. This PEO/HMO buffer layer not only establishes an intimate physical contact between the Li anode/cathode and the SSE but also functions as a dynamic Li+ transfer station to facilitate Li+ movement through the interfaces improving interfacial stability. By pairing with cathodes of LiFePO4 (LFP) and LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 (NCM811), the ASSLMBs feature high‐rate capability and stable cycling performance with low polarization. This marks the utilization of HMO as a superior interfacial material to replace conventional lithium salts, with improved ion transport, decreased polarization, and enhanced overall performances. This constitutes a significant advancement toward the next‐generation energy storage solutions for ASSLMBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs) with abundant elements have garnered significant attention from researches as a promise compensation to lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs). However, the large‐scale commercial application of SIBs is partially hindered by the limited initial coulombic efficiency (ICE) due to the irreversible formation of solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) and intercalation into the defects in the anode. Similar to pre‐lithiation techniques, pre‐sodiation approaches are considered to be one of the most direct and effective way to compensate for the loss of active sodium at the anode side of SIBs during the initial cycle. In this context, additional sodium ions are pre‐injected to the cathode/anode material by chemical/electrochemical methods, aiming to improve battery span life and energy density. This review delves into the necessity and impact of pre‐sodiation techniques, compiling the latest research progress, for instance, self‐sacrificing cathode additives, over‐sodiated cathode materials, direct contact and solution chemical pre‐sodiation. Notably, the research mechanisms underlying solution chemical pre‐sodiation are highlighted. This comprehensive overview aims to foster a deeper understanding of the pre‐sodiation techniques and expects to provide guidance for realizing the commercial application of high energy density sodium‐ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]