A thin metal film vapor deposited on thick elastomer substrate develops an equi-biaxial compressive stress state when the system is cooled due to the large thermal expansion mismatch between the elastomer and the metal. At a critical stress, the film undergoes buckling into a family of modes with short wavelengths characteristic of a thin plate on a compliant elastic foundation. As the system is further cooled, a highly ordered herringbone pattern has been observed to develop. Here it is shown that the herringbone mode constitutes a minimum energy configuration among a limited set of competing modes.

Garnet-structured LiLaZrO is a promising solid Li-ion electrolyte for all-solid-state Li-metal batteries and Li-redox-flow batteries owing to its high Li-ion conductivity at room temperature and good electrochemical stability with Li metal. However, there are still three major challenges unsolved: (1) the controversial electrochemical window of garnet, (2) the impractically large resistance at a garnet/electrode interface and the fast lithium-dendrite growth along the grain boundaries of the garnet pellet, and (3) the fast degradation during storage. We have found that these challenges are closely related to a thick LiCO layer and the Li-Al-O glass phase on the surface of garnet materials. Here we introduce a simple method to remove LiCO and the protons in the garnet framework by reacting garnet with carbon at 700 °C; moreover, the amount of the Li-Al-O glass phase with a low Li-ion conductivity in the grain boundary on the garnet surface was also reduced. The surface of the carbon-treated garnet pellets is free of LiCO and is wet by a metallic lithium anode, an organic electrolyte, and a solid composite cathode. The carbon post-treatment has reduced significantly the interfacial resistances to 28, 92 (at 65 °C), and 45 Ω cm at Li/garnet, garnet/LiFePO, and garnet/organic-liquid interfaces, respectively. A symmetric Li/garnet/Li, an all-solid-state Li/garnet/LiFePO, and a hybrid Li-S cell show small overpotentials, high Coulombic efficiencies, and stable cycling performance.

The urgency to address global climate change induced by greenhouse gas emissions is increasing. In particular, the rise in atmospheric CO2 levels is generating alarm. Technologies to remove CO2 from ambient air, or “direct air capture” (DAC), have recently demonstrated that they can contribute to “negative carbon emission.” Recent advances in surface chemistry and material synthesis have resulted in new generations of CO2 sorbents, which may drive the future of DAC and its large‐scale deployment. This Review describes major types of sorbents designed to capture CO2 from ambient air and they are categorized by the sorption mechanism: physisorption, chemisorption, and moisture‐swing sorption.