Solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) with tunable network structures are prepared by a facile one-pot reaction of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane and poly(ethylene glycol). These SPEs, with high conductivity and high modulus, exhibit superior resistance to lithium dendrite growth even at high current densities. Measurements of lithium metal batteries with a LiFePO4 cathode show excellent cycling stability and rate capability.

2D MXenes in solid polymer electrolytes show high efficiency in ionic conductivity enhancement and lithium metal battery performance improvement.

Solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) are desirable in lithium metal batteries (LMBs) since they are nonflammable and show excellent lithium dendrite growth resistance. However, fabricating high performance polymer LMBs is still a grand challenge because of the complex battery system. In this work, a series of tailor-designed hybrid SPEs were used to prepare LMBs with a LiFePO 4 -based cathode. High performance LMBs with both excellent rate capability and long cycle life were obtained at 60 and 90 C. The well-controlled network structure in this series of hybrid SPEs offers a model system to study the relationship between the SPE properties and the LMB performance. We show that the cycle life of the polymer LMBs is closely correlated with the SPE|Li interface ionic conductivity, underscoring the importance of the solid electrolyte interface in LMB operation. LMB performance was further correlated with the molecular network structure.We anticipate that results from this study will shed light on designing SPEs for high performance LMB applications.

All-solid-state sodium metal batteries (SSMBs) are of great interest for their high theoretical capacity, non-flammability, relatively low cost owing partially to the abundance of sodium recourses. However, it is challenging to fabricate SSMBs because compared with their lithium metal counterparts, sodium metal is mechanically softer and more reactive towards the electrolyte. Herein, we report the synthesis and electrochemical properties of newly designed sodium-containing hybrid network solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) and their application in This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. 2 SSMBs. The hybrid network was synthesized by controlled crosslinking of octakis(3glycidyloxypropyldimethylsiloxy)octasilsesquioxane (octa-POSS) and amine-terminated PEG in existence with sodium perchlorate (NaClO 4). Plating and stripping experiments using symmetrical cells showed prolonged cycle life of the SPEs, >5150 hours and 3550 hours at current density of 0.1 mA cm-2 and 0.5 mA cm-2 , respectively. Our results for the first time show that the SPE|sodium metal interface migrates into the SPE phase upon cycling. SSMBs fabricated with the hybrid SPE sandwiched between sodium metal anode and bilayered δ-Na x V 2 O 5 cathode exhibited record high specific capacity for solid sodium-ion batteries of 305 mAh g-1 and excellent Coulombic efficiency. Our work demonstrates that the hybrid network SPEs are promising for SSMB applications.

We discuss recent progresses on anisotropic ion transport in solid polymer electrolytes.

The electron-doping-induced phase transition of a prototypical perovskite SmNiO induces a large and non-volatile optical refractive-index change and has great potential for active-photonic-device applications. Strong optical modulation from the visible to the mid-infrared is demonstrated using thin-film SmNiO . Modulation of a narrow band of light is demonstrated using plasmonic metasurfaces integrated with SmNiO .

MXenes represent a new family of 2D transition metal carbides that has attracted a great deal of attention in various applications because of their unique electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties. In this work, we report on the structure and crystallization behavior of poly(ethylene oxide)(PEO)/MXene nanocomposites. MXene Ti 3 C 2 T x (where T is a surface termination) was synthesized and used as the nanofiller to form polymer nanocomposites using a solution blending method. Their morphologies, structures and crystallization behaviors were investigated using transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, polarized light microscopy, wide angle X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. Both non

D and ƒ derived from IVIM-DWI model can be used to distinguish well/moderately differentiated PDAC from poorly differentiated PDAC. And to serve this purpose, D and ƒ have high diagnostic performance. IVIM-DWI is a promising and non-invasive tool for predicting pathological grade of PDAC.