volumetric capacity of 5855 mAh cm −3 ) of metallic Zn. [1] However, nonuniform Zn deposition aggravates formation of dendrites and leads to a low Coulombic efficiency (CE), resulting in battery performance deterioration. It is believed that regulated Zn 2+ distribution is beneficial to the uniform Zn plating. [1,2] Many works in the field of Zn anode realize uniform Zn 2+ distribution and improve Zn electrochemistry by constructing efficient Zn 2+ transport path. [1][2][3] However, we find that at deep cycling (high current densities and capacities), the interfacial turbulence is a severe problem that cannot be ignored to destroy the stability of Zn 2+ transport path. In details, the Zn 2+ ions flux distribution is affected by two factors: construction and stabilization of Zn 2+ transport path. Homogeneous Zn 2+ channels are helpful to realize uniform ion flux distribution; while Zn 2+ transport path would be destructed due to inevitable severe interfacial turbulence caused by fluidity of electrolyte and undesired H 2 evolution reaction (HER), which would lead to the disturbance of ion flux and uneven Zn deposition. In addition, the HER is usually accompanied by metal corrosion. [3] This not only consumes water in the electrolyte, but also the generated H 2 would result in swelling of the cell and even cell rupture. Meanwhile, the consumption of H + in water results in the accumulation of residual OH − ions, driving the corrosion reaction to form inactive Zn 4 SO 4 (OH) 6 •xH 2 O byproducts. [4,5] Moreover, the operation of ZMBs with high capacities is limited owing to the incomplete Zn discharging process because accumulated Zn leads to increased polarization of the battery; High current density can also cause an inhomogeneous electric field, incomplete metal stripping, and excessive polarization especially current and concentration polarization. [6,7] These issues can cause more serious interfacial instability and disturbance for deep-cycling batteries with high areal capacities and high current densities, significantly undermining the performance of ZMBs and plaguing their scale-up implementation. Aqueous deeply rechargeable Zn metal electrodes can only be achieved when the interfacial turbulence is rectified. Considering that free water molecules in electrolytes induce H 2 evolution and interfacial corrosion, highly concentrated The fluidity of aqueous electrolytes and undesired H 2 evolution reaction (HER) can cause severe interfacial turbulence in aqueous Zn metal batteries (ZMBs) at deep cycling with high capacities and current densities, which would further perturb ion flux and aggravate Zn dendrite growth. In this study, a colloid-polymer electrolyte (CPE) with special colloidal phase and suppressed HER is designed to diminish interfacial turbulence and boost deep Zn electrochemistry. Density functional theory calculations confirm that the quantitative migratory barriers of Zn 2+ along the transport pathway in CPE demonstrate much smaller fluctuations compared with normal aqueous electrolyte, indicating...
The persistent reduction reactions between the hyperactive lithium metal (Li) and dissolved polysulfides would passivate the Li metal and rapidly decrease the cathodic active materials, thus leading to low Coulombic efficiency and a short cycle life of lithium−sulfur (Li−S) batteries. Herein, we construct artificial lithium isopropyl-sulfide macromolecules as an ionselective interface on the Li metal (IS-Li) by a facile electrochemical polymerization method, in which the polymer network improves the elasticity and toughness to accommodate the volume change of the Li anode and the formed lithium-organosulfides provide great mechanical strength to resist the destruction of Li dendrites. Importantly, this interfacial layer is proved to be sufficient in damping polysulfide anion diffusion and stopping irreversible reduction between polysulfides and metallic Li, which greatly contribute to the performance improvement of Li−S batteries. The resulting Li−S batteries exhibit long-term stability with high capacity retention and Coulombic efficiency. This effective strategy sets a new approach for regulating the interfacial chemistry of Li metal anodes, which is significant for highly stable Li−S batteries.
Eye-safe solid-state lasers that operate at 2 mm wavelength have many applications in medical, remote sensing and military technologies. With a 3-W CW laser-diode pumping, we obtained 760 mW 2.01 mm Tm:YAG laser under CW operation. The slope efficiency was 44% and the optical to optical efficiency reached 36%. In the acousto-optic Q-switched operation, laser pulses with the energy of 1.2mJ and 380 ns FWHM width have been achieved.
Zinc‐ion batteries (ZIBs) that use water‐based electrolytes have attracted significant attention. However, under harsh conditions, extreme heat is accumulated inside ZIBs, which inevitably causes thermal runway risk. Therefore, the practical applications of rechargeable ZIBs are significantly limited because the internal heat accumulated by harsh conditions induces drastic bulges or even explosions. To overcome this limitation, a self‐adaptive thermoregulatory hydrogel electrolyte (TRHE) that integrates phase transition chains with endothermic effects into agarose backbones via hydrogen bonding interactions is reported. Under extreme conditions, TRHE can tolerate sudden thermal shock; thus, ZIBs can function properly for a period in environments (100 °C) owing to their thermally self‐regulating feature, which alleviates the thermal issues associated with batteries. The hydrogel network with uniform ion migration channels can accelerate ion transport and homogenize ion distribution to realize dendrite inhibition; in addition, other pressing concerns can be effectively resolved, including hydrogen evolution and Zn corrosion, which significantly contribute to the outstanding electrochemical performance. It is believed that the proposed TRHE will help in overcoming thermal runaway in ZIBs and in other aqueous batteries.
Ag+ pollution is of great harm to the human body and environmental biology. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop inexpensive and accurate detection methods. Herein, lignin-derived structural memory carbon nanodots (CSM-dots) with outstanding fluorescence properties were fabricated via a green method. The mild preparation process allowed the CSM-dots to remain plentiful phenol, hydroxyl, and methoxy groups, which have a specific interaction with Ag+ through the reduction of silver ions. Further, the sulfur atoms doped on CSM-dots provided more active sites on their surface and the strong interaction with Ag nanoparticles. The CSM-dots can specifically bind Ag+, accompanied by a remarkable fluorescence quenching response. This “turn-off” fluorescence behavior was used for Ag+ determination in a linear range of 5–290 μM with the detection limit as low as 500 nM. Furthermore, findings showed that this sensing nano-platform was successfully used for Ag+ determination in real samples and intracellular imaging, showing great potential in biological and environmental monitoring applications.
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