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To obtain amphiphilic polymers, fluorinated groups were successfully embedded in polyacrylates. The amphiphilic polymers were synthesized by free radical-initiated copolymerization using hydrophilic acrylate monomers and hydrophobic 2-perfluorooctylethyl methacrylate (FMA). 1H NMR spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared results indicated that the fluorinated monomer FMA was successfully embedded in the polymers. The surfaces of the amphiphilic polymers were subsequently characterized by contact angle measurement, atomic force microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, showing that a well-designed amphiphilic structure with fluorinated groups in the polymers was fabricated with the increase in the number of FMA units (n). Protein adsorption experiments indicated that, in addition to the surface chemical composition and roughness of the polymer, the fluorinated degree of the bulk/internal polymer layer (k) also plays a significant role in its bioadhesion behavior via adjusting the charge state of...

The Pd71.5Cu12Si16.5 metallic glass was synthesized as wide ribbons by arc melting and copper roller spinning. The structures were determined by X-ray diffraction patterns using the conventional X-ray diffractometer and short wavelength X-ray stress analyzer, and the fully glassy state of the ribbons is confirmed. Multiple hydrogen absorption and desorption cycles at room temperature under 100 kPa were carried out on the samples. No destruction after more than 10 cycles is observed, which demonstrates good hydrogen embrittlement resistance. The hydrogen permeation properties of the Pd71.5Cu12Si16.5 metallic glass and its crystallized counterpart were further tested using a direct permeation method. In the supercooled liquid region, the hydrogen permeation rate is obviously higher for the metallic glass form, which could be explained by the increasing free volumes introduced during isothermal stage in this range.

Hydrophobic silane/graphene oxide (GO) composite coating implanted with BTAH inhibitor (BTAH-silane/GO) was successfully fabricated on copper surface, and characterized using ATR-FTIR, Raman, EDS, XPS and EIS techniques. The results showed that GO was successfully covalently reacted with the silanol groups to form a Si-O-C band and BTAH inhibitor was uniformly embedded in the composite coating. The BTAH-silane/GO coated copper possessed the desirable high impedance modulus (Z0.01 Hz) of 5.7 MΩ cm2 and high protection efficiency of 99.97%. The corrosion current density of the coated copper reduced over 3 orders of magnitude compared to its bare in 1 M neutral NaCl solution, and maintained over 99% even after 120 h immersion. In addition, the incorporated BTAH inhibitor exhibited the self-healing performance of BTAH-silane/GO coating in 1 M neutral NaCl solution.

Layered metal sulfides (LMSs) with larger interlayer spacing are suitable for Li+ intercalation/extraction and possess relatively higher theoretical specific capacity than commercial graphite. However, pure LMSs show inherent low conductivity and irreversible huge volume expansion in lithium uptakes. In this work, we introduce an interesting van der Waals heterojunction between two popular LMSs, i.e., MoS2/SnS2 van der Waals heterojunction grown on reduced graphene oxide (MoS2/SnS2-rGO), which is synthesized by a facile hydrothermal process. The MoS2/SnS2-rGO nanocomposite exhibits a remarkable interface synergistic effect due to the weak van der Waals interaction on their nanocrystalline, which leads to an enhanced energy storage performance compared with MoS2-rGO and SnS2-rGO. The MoS2/SnS2-rGO exhibits better cycling stability of 894 mAh g–1 at 200 mA g–1 after 55 cycles and excellent rate performance of 590 mAh g–1 at 1 A g–1 for LIBs. This work proposes that weaker van der Waals interactions between ...

2D Boron is an atomically thin layer of boron with both light weight and metallicity, two kinds of potential structures are proposed, namely, a close-packed triangular B layer(denoted B△ hereafter) and a hexagonal voids or vacancies ( ) in B layer(denoted hereafter) (Evgeni S. et al. Nano Lett. 2012, 12, 2441–2445). Here, we use first-principles calculations to investigate the potential of borophene as an anode material for sodium-ion batteries. It is found that borophene has an adsorption energy to sodium atoms of −1.448 eV for all boron atoms in the plane ( ) and −1.731 eV for BΔ. The fully sodiated phase of borophene is Na0.083B and Na0.1B for BΔ and , respectively, which corresponds to a theoretical specific capacity of 248 mAh g−1 (496 mAh g−1 for two sides) for BΔ and 298 mAh g−1 (596 mAh g−1 for two sides) for . The energy barrier along the furrow of corrugated borophene is only 12 meV for BΔ, which suggests that sodium diffusion on borophene can be extremely fast for BΔ. In addition, a strong directional anisotropy is observed for sodium diffusion with a 352.5 meV barrier perpendicular to the furrow of BΔ. Finally, both exhibit metallic characteristics during the entire sodiation process, which indicates that the material has excellent electronic conductivity. The findings in this work suggest that as an anode material for sodium-ion batteries, borophene can drastically boost the energy and power density of batteries.

1D-VS4 nanorods have been successfully fabricated through a simple facial solvothermal method for the first time. SEM, Raman spectrum, FTIR and UV–vis are adopted to investigate the morphology, structure and composition of prepared nanocomposites, and results show that obtained VS4 is presented as uniform nanorods and is mainly composed by monoclinic VS4 with high crystallinity and purity. Moreover, these prepared VS4 nanorods have a uniform morphology as well as a small crystal size of 1–2 µm and a diameter of 20–60 nm. Electrochemical properties of VS4 nanorods as anode electrodes have shown VS4 is great in electrical conductivity, rate performance and service life. The first discharge has its specific capacity reaching 574.3 mAh g−1 at the current density of 200 mA g−1, and the reversible residual specific capacity could be retained to 439.3 mAh g−1 after 120 cycles. When current density is increased to 2 A g−1, the remaining capacity still remained as 267.3 mAh g−1, indicating good conductivity and excellent rate performance in VS4 based LIB. The small internal impedance (100 O) also indicates that the VS4 nanorod anode has a high conductivity, thus its superior electrochemical performance is promoted. Finally, we have carried out DFT calculations to explain how Li ions have been inserted into bulk and 1D-VS4 nanorods; and the fast Li ion migration in the 1D-VS4 nanorods with the NEB barrier is only 138.5 meV, and also the strong absorption ensures its excellent electrochemical performance.

Ti-Zr-Ni-based icosahedral quasicrystals (IQCs) are a type of hydrogen storage materials with promising application in the fields of hydrogen energy and nuclear fusion energy. In the present paper, the preparation of Ti39Zr38Ni17Pd6 IQC and its deuterium storage properties were investigated by XRD, TEM, XPS analysis and a gas-solid reaction system. Results show that the saturation concentration of absorbing deuterium for the alloy at room temperature reaches near 11 mmol·D2/g·M (D2 means deuterium molecular and M the metal), exceeding those of Zr2Fe and ZrCo alloys. After a few absorption/desorption cycles, no phase transformation is observed, but the quasilattice displays a remarkable expansion of 6.37% after full D intake. The binding energy rise of 0.2 eV for Ti and 0.6 eV for Zr, caused by the introduction of saturated deuterium atoms, provides the evidence of the preferential location of deuterium near Zr and Ti in quasicrystals of this kind. The possible existence of a lower D desorption equilibrium pressure with