Rational design, convenient fabrication, and application of double-shelled hollow architectures with well-defined morphology and multicompositions as electrodes for rechargeable batteries still remain great challenges. Herein, double-shelled Ni− Fe−P/N-doped carbon nanoboxes (defined as Ni−Fe−P/NC) were synthesized and then applied as electrode materials for potassiumion batteries (KIBs) and Li−S batteries, first. The unique architectures could not only alleviate volume changes and prevent aggregation of Ni−Fe−P/NC during cycling but could also provide efficient surface areas for infiltration of electrolyte. Additionally, nitrogen-doped carbon could improve the conductivity of the electrode. Hence, when these Ni−Fe−P/NC nanoboxes were applied as anode materials for KIBs, they delivered enhanced cycling stability (172.9 mA h g −1 after 1600 cycles at 500 mA g −1 and 115 mA h g −1 after 2600 cycles at 1000 mA g −1 ). Meanwhile, the Ni−Fe−P/NC could also be used as the sulfur host material for Li−S batteries; benefiting from its unique hollow structure, it can accommodate high sulfur loading and have strong chemical adsorption ability to polysulfides.

The rapid development and implementation of digitalization in manufacturing has enormous impact on the environment. It is still unclear whether digitalization has positive or negative environmental impact from applications in manufacturing. Therefore, this study aims to discuss the overall implications of digitalization on environmental sustainability through a literature study, within the scope of manufacturing (product design, production, transportation, and customer service). The analysis and categorization of selected articles resulted in two main findings: (1) Digitalization in manufacturing contributes positively to environmental sustainability by increasing resource and information efficiency as a result of applying Industry 4.0 technologies throughout the product lifecycle; (2) the negative environmental burden of digitalization is primarily due to increased resource and energy use, as well as waste and emissions from manufacturing, use, and disposal of the hardware (the technology lifecycle). Based on these findings, a lifecycle perspective is proposed, considering the environmental impacts from both the product and technology lifecycles. This study identified key implications of digitalization on environmental sustainability in manufacturing to increase awareness of both the positive and negative impacts of digitalization and thereby support decision making to invest in new digital technologies.

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A new seeding method, namely, varying-temperature hot-dip coating (VTHDC), is proposed for synthesis of zeolite T membranes by secondary hydrothermal growth. The VTHDC method is composed of hot-dip coating at higher temperature, rubbing off the superfluous crystals, and hot-dip coating at lower temperature. It was found that the method was flexible and effective for combined control over the seed suspension concentration, seed size, and coating temperature, leading to combined control of properties of the seed layer over the seed size, thickness, coverage, and defect. A thin continuous, smooth defect-free asymmetric seed layer was achieved consisting of large and small zeolite T seed crystals. The resulting zeolite T membrane M5 exhibited high pervaporation performance with the flux reaching 2.12 and 2.52 kg/m 2 h for the dehydration of 90 wt % EtOH/H 2 O and IPA/H 2 O mixture, respectively, at 348 K. The corresponding separation factor was up to 1301 and 10,000, respectively. V V C 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 936-947, 2013