With plenty of charges and rich functional groups, bovine
serum
albumin (BSA) protein provides effective transport for multiple metallic
ions inside blood vessels. Inspired by the unique ionic transport
function, we develop a BSA protein coating to stabilize Li anode,
regulate Li+ transport, and resolve the Li dendrite growth
for Li metal batteries (LMBs). The experimental and simulation studies
demonstrate that the coating has strong interactions with Li metal,
increases the wetting with electrolyte, reduces the electrolyte/Li
side reactions, and significantly suppresses the Li dendrite formation.
As a result, the BSA coating exhibits excellent stability in the electrolyte
and improves the performance of Li|Cu and Li|Li cells as well as the
LiFePO4|Li batteries. This work reveals that LMBs can benefit
from the biological function of BSA, i.e., special transport capability
of metallic ions, and lays an important foundation in design of protein-based
materials for effectively enhancing the electrochemical performance
of energy storage systems.
A MnOx-assisted strategy is proposed to improve the oxygen reduction activity and stability of Fe–N–C single-atom catalysts (SACs) by regulating the electron structure and reducing the side effects of the Fenton reaction.
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