Sodium-ion battery technologies are known to suffer from kinetic problems associated with the solid-state diffusion of Na in intercalation electrodes, which results in suppressed specific capacity and degraded rate performance. Here, a controllable selective etching approach is developed for the synthesis of Prussian blue analogue (PBA) with enhanced sodium storage activity. On the basis of time-dependent experiments, a defect-induced morphological evolution mechanism from nanocube to nanoflower structure is proposed. Through in situ X-ray diffraction measurement and computational analysis, this unique structure is revealed to provide higher Na diffusion dynamics and negligible volume change during the sodiation/desodiation processes. As a sodium ion battery cathode, the PBA exhibits a discharge capacity of 90 mA h g, which is in good agreement with the complete low spin Fe(C) redox reaction. It also demonstrates an outstanding rate capability of 71.0 mA h g at 44.4 C, as well as an unprecedented cycling reversibility over 5000 times.

Several SBA-15 silica materials with different pore structures were synthesized and functionalized with poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI). The as-prepared materials were characterized by XRD, SEM, TG, FT-IR, and N 2 physisorption techniques followed by testing for CO 2 capture using a N 2 stream containing 15.1 v/v% CO 2 in the temperature range of 30-75°C. The results showed that the CO 2 adsorption capacity linearly increased with the total pore volume of the SBA-15 phases in the tested temperature range (R 2 > 0.94). Temperature also showed a strong influence on CO 2 adsorption capacity. SBA-15 material with the largest pore volume (1.14 cm 3 g -1 ) exhibited the largest CO 2 adsorption capacity (105.2 mg g -1 adsorbent) with 15.1 v/v% CO 2 in N 2 at 75°C and atmospheric pressure. Pore size was found not to be the main factor influencing the CO 2 adsorption capacity of these PEI-modified SBA-15 materials. Adsorption-desorption cycles (12) revealed that the adsorbents with PEI loaded inside the pore channels were found to be quite stable, as they retained their CO 2 adsorption capacity with many cycles.

Supporting information and the ORCID identification number(s) for the author(s) of this article can be found under: https://doi.Figure 4. a) The high-resolution XPS spectra of O 1s for TiO 2 and Nia/TiO 2 samples. b) Molecular models of O V on TiO 2 , O V on Ni/TiO 2 , and the corresponding formation energy of O V . c) Free energy versus the reaction coordinates of different active sites. The simulation is based on the (101) facet of anatase TiO 2 . d) The linear scan voltammetry curves of TiO 2 and Ni-a/TiO 2 based electrodes. Angewandte Chemie Communications 7233

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A MOF covalently linked by polymer chains is prepared and used as an all-solid-state polymer electrolyte for LIBs, which shows superior performance.

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Lignin is an eco-friendly, low-cost, and abundant natural biopolymer. However, few studies have explored the potential application of lignin as electrolyte matrix for lithium-ion batteries or obtained excellent cell performance using lignin-based electrolyte. In this paper, lignin and poly­(N-vinylimidazole)-co-poly­(poly­(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate) are mixed thoroughly in water, then a free-standing lignin-based film is obtained by casting and drying. The resulting film shows obviously higher mechanical strength (over 10 times) than that of the pure lignin film due to the construction of internal physical cross-linking network. Through activation of the prepared film by organic electrolyte, the membrane exhibits superior electrochemical performances (such as outstanding lithium-ion transfer number (0.63) and the ability to inhibit the growth of lithium dendrites). As a result, the LiFePO4/lignin-based electrolyte/Li cell presents excellent long cycle performance (∼150 mAh g–1 at 1 C more than 450 cycles) and rate capacity (110 mAh g–1 at 10 C) at room temperature (RT), which is better than that of the cells using a commercial separator. Moreover, the LiCoO2/lignin-based electrolyte/Li cell also shows superior cell performance at RT. Thus, the lignin-based electrolyte with the outstanding comprehensive property has the potential to replace separator and to be widely applied in high-performance and high-safety LIBs.

A series of unconventional nano-sized Zn-doped ZnZrO-x catalysts are applied for the first time to the direct dehydrogenation of isobutane to isobutene.