Wildlife attacks on humans and economic losses often result in reduced support of local communities for wildlife conservation. Information on spatial and temporal patterns of such losses in the highly affected areas contribute in designing and implementing effective mitigation measures. We analyzed the loss of humans, livestock and property caused by wildlife during 1998 to 2016, using victim family’s reports to Chitwan National Park authorities and Buffer Zone User Committees. A total of 4,014 incidents were recorded including attacks on humans, livestock depredation, property damage and crop raiding caused by 12 wildlife species. In total >400,000 US dollar was paid to the victim families as a relief over the whole period. Most of the attacks on humans were caused by rhino, sloth bear, tiger, elephant, wild boar and leopard. A significantly higher number of conflict incidents caused by rhino and elephant were observed during full moon periods. An increase in the wildlife population did not coincide with an equal rise in conflict incidents reported. Underprivileged ethnic communities were attacked by wildlife more frequently than expected. Number of attacks on humans by carnivores and herbivores did not differ significantly. An insignificant decreasing trend of wildlife attacks on humans and livestock was observed with significant variation over the years. Tiger and leopard caused >90% of livestock depredation. Tigers killed both large (cattle and buffalo) and medium sized (goat, sheep, pig) livestock but leopard mostly killed medium sized livestock. Most (87%) of the livestock killing during 2012–2016 occurred within the stall but close (<500m) to the forest edge. Both the percentage of households with livestock and average holding has decreased over the years in buffer zone. Decreased forest dependency as well as conflict mitigation measures (electric and mesh wire fences) have contributed to keep the conflict incidents in control. Strengthening mitigation measures like construction of electric or mesh wire fences and predator-proof livestock corrals along with educating local communities about wildlife behavior and timely management of problem animals (man-eater tiger, rage elephant etc.) will contribute to reduce the conflict.

MXenes exhibit excellent capacitance at high scan rates in sulfuric acid aqueous electrolytes, but the narrow potential window of aqueous electrolytes limits the energy density. Organic electrolytes and room‐temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) can provide higher potential windows, leading to higher energy density. The large cation size of RTIL hinders its intercalation in‐between the layers of MXene limiting the specific capacitance in comparison to aqueous electrolytes. In this work, different chain lengths alkylammonium (AA) cations are intercalated into Ti3C2Tx, producing variation of MXene interlayer spacings (d‐spacing). AA‐cation‐intercalated Ti3C2Tx (AA‐Ti3C2), exhibits higher specific capacitances, and cycling stabilities than pristine Ti3C2Tx in 1 m 1‐ethly‐3‐methylimidazolium bis‐(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)‐imide (EMIMTFSI) in acetonitrile and neat EMIMTFSI RTIL electrolytes. Pre‐intercalated MXene with an interlayer spacing of ≈2.2 nm, can deliver a large specific capacitance of 257 F g−1 (1428 mF cm−2 and 492 F cm−3) in neat EMIMTFSI electrolyte leading to high energy density. Quasi elastic neutron scattering and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy are used to study the dynamics of confined RTIL in pre‐intercalated MXene. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest significant differences in the structures of RTIL ions and AA cations inside the Ti3C2Tx interlayer, providing insights into the differences in the observed electrochemical behavior.

Mesoporous metal oxides with wide pore size, high surface area, and uniform porous structures have demonstrated excellent advantages in various fields. However, the state-of-art synthesis approaches are dominated by wet chemistry, accompanied by use of excessive solvent, and the requirement of time-consuming drying process. Herein, we report a mechanochemical solid-state route to synthesize mesoporous Al 2 O 3 (meso-Al 2 O 3 ) via aluminum isopropoxide-copolymers assembly. The obtained meso-Al 2 O 3 shows a record high surface area (∼644 m 2 g −1 ) and narrow pore size distribution (centered at ∼5 nm). Moreover, a mechanochemical nonhydrolytic sol−gel strategy is introduced to fabricate mesoporous metal (Cu, Co, Mn, Fe, Mg, Ni)-aluminum binary oxide by using anhydrous metal chlorides and aluminum isopropoxide interplay. More importantly, four or five metals-aluminum oxide complexes with abundant mesopores and single cubic crystalline phase known as high-entropy ceramics are produced. To the best of our knowledge, mesoporous high-entropy metal oxides have not been prepared before, because the high crystallization temperature would make mesopores collapse. Additionally, this high-entropy property endows (CuNiFeCoMg)O x −Al 2 O 3 with superior SO 2 -resisting performance (1000 ppm of SO 2 in N 2 at 280 °C) in the catalytic oxidation of CO compared to single CuO− Al 2 O 3 .

The formation of the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) in an ionic liquid electrolyte of 0.5 m lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (LiFSI) in 1‐ethyl‐3‐methylimidazolium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide at high cell voltages (1.7–1.9 V) is investigated in ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) based Li metal cells using an operando small‐angle neutron scattering (SANS) technique coupled with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and ex situ X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It is demonstrated that discharging the OMC Li metal cells to ≈2 V and holding the cell voltage constant induces a rapid current increase with time, confirming extensive reduction and SEI formation. XPS analysis reveals that LiF is formed at open cell voltage (OCV), which is attributed to the carbenes generated at the lithium negative electrode because of its reaction with EMIm cation diffusing to and initiating the reaction with FSI− anions at the carbon positive electrode. It is confirmed that the chemical reaction at OCV and electrochemical reduction at high cell voltage of the FSI− anion plays a protective role against EMIm cation co‐intercalation into the carbon positive electrode during the initial discharge. Operando SANS studies also suggest that slight differences occur in the surface composition and reaction mechanism as a function of cell voltage.

All-solid-state interpenetrating network polymer electrolytes (INSPEs) were fabricated by a simultaneous reaction of 3-armed poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate-co-glycidyl methacrylate and bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BPDE) with polyether diamine (ED2003) in the presence of LiTFSI, exhibiting high ionic conductivities at room temperature and remarkable stability towards lithium metal.

The development of electric vehicles (EVs) has been restricted by severe lithium plating in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) with graphite as the anode. To mitigate the lithium plating issue, carbon coated porous titanium niobium oxides (TNO@C) have been synthesized and evaluated as anode materials for extreme fast charge (XFC) applications in LIBs. Various methods have been utilized to optimize the full cells with LiNi0.6Mn0.2Co0.2O2 (NMC) as the cathode and TNO@C as the anode, delivering a high energy density of 142.8 Wh/kg (357 Wh/L) and a good energy density retention over 80% after 500 cycles with a 10 min fast charging protocol. The interfacial behaviors of the TNO@C and NMC electrodes during XFC cycling have also been investigated, proving that the lithium plating problem can be effectively suppressed by the high-voltage TiNb2O7 anode even under XFC conditions. The high energy density and long cycling stability of the NMC/TNO@C full cells demonstrate that the TNO@C anode is a promising candidate to replace graphite anode in LIBs for fast charging EVs with long driving ranges.

Graphite, an essential component of energy storage devices, is traditionally synthesized via an energy-intensive thermal process (Acheson process) at ∼3300 K. However, the battery performance of such graphite is abysmal under fast-charging conditions, which is deemed essential for the propulsion of electric vehicles to the next level. Herein, a low-temperature electrochemical transformation approach has been demonstrated to afford a highly crystalline nano-graphite with the capability of tuning interlayer spacing to enhance the lithium diffusion kinetics in molten salts at 850 °C. The essence of our strategy lies in the effective electrocatalytic transformation of carbon to graphite at a lower temperature that could significantly increase the energy savings, reduce the cost, shorten the synthesis time, and replace the traditional graphite synthesis. The resulting graphite exhibits high purity, crystallinity, a high degree of graphitization, and a nanoflake architecture that all ensure fast lithium diffusion kinetics (∼2.0 × 10–8 cm2 s–1) through its nanosheet. Such unique features enable outstanding electrochemical performance (∼200 mA h g–1 at 5C for 1000 cycles, 1C = 372 mA g–1) as a fast-charging anode for lithium-ion batteries. This finding paves the way to make high energy-density fast-charging batteries that could boost electromobility.

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