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Efficient, rechargeable Mg and Ca batteries Divalent rechargeable metal batteries such as those based on magnesium and calcium are of interest because of the abundance of these elements and their lower tendency to form dendrites, but practical demonstrations are lacking. Hou et al . used methoxyethyl amine chelants in which the ligands attach to the metal atom in more than one place, modulating the solvation structure of the metal ions to enable a facile charge-transfer reaction (see the Perspective by Zuo and Yin). In full battery cells, these components lead to high efficiency and energy density. Theoretical calculations were used to understand the solvation structures. —MSL

Hybrid ionically-covalently crosslinked double-network (DN) hydrogels are attracting increasing attention on account of their self-recovery ability and fatigue resistance, but their relative low mechanical strength and tedious performance adjustment severely limit their applications. Herein, a new strategy to concurrently fabricate hybrid ionic-covalent DN hydrogels and modulate their structures and mechanics is reported, in which an in situ formed chitosan ionic network is incorporated by post-crosslinking the chitosan-based composite hydrogel using multivalent anions solutions. The obtained hybrid DN hydrogels exhibit predominant mechanical properties including superior elastic modulus, high tensile strength, and ultrahigh fracture energy because of the more efficient energy dissipation of rigid short-chain chitosan network. Notably, the swollen hydrogels still remain mechanically strong and tough even after immersion in water for 24 h. More significantly, simply changing the post-crosslinking time can vary the compactness and rigidity of the chitosan network in situ, achieving flexible and efficient modulation of the structures and mechanics of the hybrid DN hydrogels. This study opens up a new horizon in the preparation and regulation of DN hydrogels for promising applications in tissue scaffolds, actuators, and wearable devices.

Most photocrosslinkable hydrogels have inadequacy in either mechanical performance or biodegradability. This issue is addressed by adopting a novel hydrogel design by introducing two different chitosan chains (catecholmodified methacryloyl chitosan, CMC; methacryloyl chitosan, MC) via the simultaneous crosslinking of carbon-carbon double bonds and catechol-Fe 3+ chelation. This leads to an interpenetrating network of two chitosan chains with high crosslinking-network density, which enhances mechanical performance including high compressive modulus and high ductility. The chitosan polymers not only endow the hydrogels with good biodegradability and biocompatibility, they also offer intrinsic antibacterial capability. The quinone groups formed by Fe 3+ oxidation and protonated amino groups of chitosan polymer further enhance antibacterial property of the hydrogels. Serving as one of the two types of crosslinking mechanisms, the catechol-Fe 3+ chelation can covalently link with amino, thiol, and imidazole groups, which substantially enhance the hydrogel's adhesion to biological tissues. The hydrogel's adhesion to porcine skin shows a lap shear strength of 18.1 kPa, which is 6-time that of the clinically established Fibrin Glue's adhesion. The hydrogel also has a good hemostatic performance due to the superior tissue adhesion as demonstrated with a hemorrhaging liver model. Furthermore, the hydrogel can remarkably promote healing of bacteria-infected wound.

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Bi@Graphite was synthesized as an ultra-fast and ultra-stable anode material for SIBs with 70% capacity retention at 300C with respect to 1C.

Low-cost multivalent battery chemistries (Mg , Al ) have been extensively investigated for large-scale energy storage applications. However, their commercialization is plagued by the poor power density and cycle life of cathodes. A universal polyimides@CNT (PI@CNT) cathode is now presented that can reversibly store various cations with different valences (Li , Mg , Al ) at an extremely fast rate. The ion-coordination charge storage mechanism of PI@CNT is systemically investigated. Full cells using PI@CNT cathodes and corresponding metal anodes exhibit long cycle life (>10000 cycles), fast kinetics (>20 C), and wide operating temperature range (-40 to 50 °C), making the low-cost industrial polyimides universal cathodes for different multivalent metal batteries. The stable ion-coordinated mechanism opens a new foundation for the development of high-energy and high-power multivalent batteries.