Most of the existing flexible lithium ion batteries (LIBs) adopt the conventional cofacial cell configuration where anode, separator, and cathode are sequentially stacked and so have difficulty in the integration with emerging thin LIB applications, such as smart cards and medical patches. In order to overcome this shortcoming, herein, we report a coplanar cell structure in which anodes and cathodes are interdigitatedly positioned on the same plane. The coplanar electrode design brings advantages of enhanced bending tolerance and capability of increasing the cell voltage by in series-connection of multiple single-cells in addition to its suitability for the thickness reduction. On the basis of these structural benefits, we develop a coplanar flexible LIB that delivers 7.4 V with an entire cell thickness below 0.5 mm while preserving stable electrochemical performance throughout 5000 (un)bending cycles (bending radius = 5 mm). Also, even the pouch case serves as barriers between anodes and cathodes to prevent Li dendrite growth and short-circuit formation while saving the thickness. Furthermore, for convenient practical use wireless charging via inductive electromagnetic energy transfer and solar cell integration is demonstrated.

Heavy metal contaminated surface water is one of the oldest pollution problems, which is critical to ecosystems and human health. We devised disulfide linked polymer networks and employed as a sorbent for removing heavy metal ions from contaminated water. Although the polymer network material has a moderate surface area, it demonstrated cadmium removal efficiency equivalent to highly porous activated carbon while it showed 16 times faster sorption kinetics compared to activated carbon, owing to the high affinity of cadmium towards disulfide and thiol functionality in the polymer network. The metal sorption mechanism on polymer network was studied by sorption kinetics, effect of pH, and metal complexation. We observed that the metal ions-copper, cadmium, and zinc showed high binding affinity in polymer network, even in the presence of competing cations like calcium in water.

The pursuit of synthetic routes for design and preparation of nanoporous polymeric networks with inherent permanent microporosity and functionality through bottom-up methodologies remains a driving force in developing CO 2 -philic materials. We report nanoporous, processable, benzoxazole-linked covalent organic polymers (Box-COPs) that show exceptional thermal stability up to 576°C. Box-COPs can be formed into films thanks to the silylation that is used to guide polymeric network formation. Surface areas of up to 606 m 2 g −1 and narrow pore sizes of 4.36 Å were observed with a CO 2 uptake capacity of 139.6 mg g −1 at 273 K and 1 bar. Box-COPs were stable in boiling water for a week without deteriorating CO 2 capture capacity.

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Developing an adsorbent to mitigate carbon dioxide without large energy penalty is highly desired. Here, we present a silylation synthetic route to form a processable and otherwise impossible porous 1,2,4-oxadiazole network, which achieves 2 mmol g(-1) of CO2 capacity owing to a nitrogen-rich structure. This network shows high CO2-N2 selectivity, thermal stability up to 450 °C, and low heat of adsorption (26.4 kJ mol(-1)), facilitating easy regeneration.

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No abstract

Activated carbon has been used in a wide range of applications owing to its large specific area, facile synthesis, and low cost. The synthesis of activated carbon mostly relies on potassium hydroxide (KOH)‐mediated activation which leads to the formation of micropores (<2 nm) after a washing step with acid. Here we report the preparation of activated carbon with an anomalously large surface area (3288 m2 g−1), obtained by employing an activation process mediated by cesium (Cs) ions. The high affinity of the carbon lattice for Cs ions induces immense interlayer expansion upon complexation of the intercalant Cs ion with the carbon host. Furthermore, the Cs‐activation process maintains the nitrogen content of the carbon source by enabling the activation process at low temperature. The large surface area and well‐preserved nitrogen content of Cs‐activated carbon takes advantage of its enhanced interaction with CO2 molecules (for superior CO2 capture) and lithium ions (for improved Li ion storage), respectively. The present investigation unveils a new approach toward tuning the key structural properties of activated carbon; that is, controlling the affinity of the carbon host for the intercalant ion when they engage in complex formation during the activation process.