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Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been known to have a broad spectrum of antifouling activity. In this study, AgNPs were generated in situ on the surface of dopamine modified 304 stainless steel (DA-SS AgNPs) in weak alkaline aqueous solution. Field emission scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscope and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were utilized to analyze the surface morphology and chemical composition of modified stainless steel and the results demonstrated that stainless steel surface were successfully coated with AgNPs. Antimicrobial assays showed that these modified surfaces possessed resistance against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, to an effectiveness of 99.9 and 99.5%, respectively. The presence of silver offered the coatings excellent capability for effectively inhibiting the adhesion of marine algae Chlorella pyrenoidosa, Phaeodactylum tricornutum, and Naviculaceae spp, with the amount of the three algae decreased 98.5, 98.2 and 98.7%, respectively. This strategy demonstrated a realistic paradigm for the further improving the performance of antifouling materials.

Developing advanced high-rate electrode materials has been a crucial aspect for next-generation lithium ion batteries (LIBs). A conventional nanoarchitecturing strategy is suggested to improve the rate performance of materials but inevitably brings about compromise in volumetric energy density, cost, safety, and so on. Here, micro-size Nb14 W3 O44 is synthesized as a durable high-rate anode material based on a facile and scalable solution combustion method. Aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy reveals the existence of open and interconnected tunnels in the highly crystalline Nb14 W3 O44 , which ensures facile Li+ diffusion even within micro-size particles. In situ high-energy synchrotron XRD and XANES combined with Raman spectroscopy and computational simulations clearly reveal a single-phase solid-solution reaction with reversible cationic redox process occurring in the NWO framework due to the low-barrier Li+ intercalation. Therefore, the micro-size Nb14 W3 O44 exhibits durable and ultrahigh rate capability, i.e., ≈130 mAh g-1 at 10 C, after 4000 cycles. Most importantly, the micro-size Nb14 W3 O44 anode proves its highest practical applicability by the fabrication of a full cell incorporating with a high-safety LiFePO4 cathode. Such a battery shows a long calendar life of over 1000 cycles and an enhanced thermal stability, which is superior than the current commercial anodes such as Li4 Ti5 O12 .

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) have been of excellent interest in the latest years due to their environmental benignity and easy preparation. One vital barrier to the production of high-performance ZIBs is the development of appropriate cathode materials. Polyaniline (PANI) is very promising, particularly due to its excellent conductivity and easy preparation, among varied cathode materials. However, deprotonation of PANI is a key problem greatly deteriorating capacity and cycling stability of PANI cathode. In this study, we discover that graphene oxide (GO) can fix the problem effectively as the wealthy functional GO oxygen groups can provide a local proton reservoir that increases PANI protonation. As a result, the GO composited PANI electrodes show significantly improved zinc-ion storage performance than pure carbon composited PANI cathodes. Specifically, the battery performances in terms of capacity (233 mA h g−1) and rate performance (100 mA h g−1 under 5 A g−1) are enhanced significantly after introducing GO into PANI cathode. Besides, flexible PANI-based ZIB devices can be easily fabricated owing to the excellent film-forming property of GO. This work offers new insight for improving PANI cathode materials by carbon chemistry.