The etching strategy of zinc anode to enable high performance zinc-ion batteries

Zinc-ion batteries(ZIBs)are considered to be one of the most promising candidates to replace lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)due to the high theoretical capacity,low cost and intrinsic safety.However,zinc dendrites,hydrogen evolution reaction,surface passivation and other side reactions will inevitably occur during the charging and discharging process of Zn anode,which will seriously affect the cycle stability of the battery and hinder its practical application.The etching strategy of Zn anode has attracted wide attention because of its simple operation and broad commercial prospects,and the etched Zn anode can effectively improve its electrochemical performance.However,there is no comprehensive review of the etching strategy of Zn anode.This review first summarizes the challenges faced by Zn anode,then puts forward the etching mechanisms and properties of acid,salt and other etchants.Finally,based on the above discussion,the challenges and opportunities of Zn anode etching strategy are proposed.

Amphipathic Janus Nanofibers Aerogel for Efficient Solar Steam Generation

Solar steam generation is a promising water purification technology due to its low-cost and environmentally friendly applications in water purification and desalination.However,hydrophilic or hydrophobic materials alone are insufficient in achieving necessary characteristics for constructing highquality solar steam generators with good comprehensive properties.Herein,novel hydrophile/hydrophobe amphipathic Janus nanofibers aerogel is designed and used as a host material for preparing solar steam generators.The product consists of an internal cubic aerogel and an external layer of photothermal materials.The internal aerogel is composed of electrospun amphipathic Janus nanofibers.Owing to the unique composition and structure,the prepared solar steam generator integrates the features of high water evaporation rate(2.944 kg m^(-2)h^(-1)under 1 kW m^(-2)irradiation),selffloating,salt-resisting,and fast performance recovery after flipping.Moreover,the product also exhibits excellent properties on desalination and removal of organic pollutants.Compared with traditional hydrophilic aerogel host material,the amphipathic Janus nanofibers aerogel brings much higher water evaporation rate and salt resistance.

Preparation of Rare Earth Hydroxide and Oxide Nanoparticles by Precipitation Method

A series of rare earth hydroxide and oxide nanoparticles have been prepared by precipitation method with alcohol as the dispersive and protective reagent. Transmission electron microscope （TEM） images indicate that the particles are spherical in shape and smaller than 100 nm in size. The crystallite sizes of cubic Ln2O3 have lanthanide shrinking effect, while average crystal lattice distortion rates possess lanthanide swelling effect. The diffraction peak intensity of heavy rare earth oxide nanometer powders is remarkably stronger than that of light rare earth oxide nanometer powders. The variation of diffraction intensity with atomic number presents an inverted W type, forming a double peak structure. Fourier transform infrared （FTIR） spectrums reveal that Ln2O3 nanopowders have higher surface activity than that of ordinary Ln2O3 powders. The UV-vis spectra show that Ln-O bond of these particles is slightly blue-shifted, and its absorption intensity decreases.

Preparation and Characterization of Tetracomponent ZnO/SiO₂/SnO₂/TiO₂Composite Nanofibers by Electrospinning

[Zn(CH3COO)2 + PVP]/[C2H5O)4Si + PVP]/[SnCl4 + PVP]/[Ti(OC4H9)4 + CH3COOH + PVP] precursor composite fibers have been fabricated through self-made electrospinning equipment via electrospinning tech-nique. ZnO/SiO2/SnO2/TiO2 composite nanofibers were obtained by calcination of the relevant precursor composite fibers. The samples were characterized by thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). TG-DTA analysis reveals that solvents, organic compounds and inorganic in the precursor composite fibers are decomposed and volatilized totally, and the mass of the samples kept constant when sintering temperature was above 900?C, and the total mass loss percentage is 88%. XRD results show that the precursor composite fibers are amorphous in structure, and pure phase ZnO/SiO2/SnO2/TiO2 com-posite nanofibers are obtained by calcination of the relevant precursor composite fibers. FTIR analysis manifests that pure inorganic oxides are formed. SEM analysis indicates that the width of the precursor composite fibers is ca. 1.485 ± 0.043 μm. The width of the ZnO/SiO2/SnO2/TiO2 composite nanofibers is ca. 1145.098 ± 68.093 nm.

A porous Eu-PTA/Tb-SSA/ZrO_(2)/ZnZrO_(3) light color adjustable phosphor:Luminescent property and application of warm white LED

Light emitting diode(LED) is the fourth generation lighting source,but it has some shortcomings such as complex chip packaging process and the unbalanced light color of phosphor in long-time application.In this study,a kind of Eu-terephthalic acid/Tb-sulfosalicylate/ZrO_(2)/ZnZrO_(3)(Eu-PTA/Tb-SSA/ZrO_(2)/ZnZrO_(3))phosphor with warm white light emission properties was prepared,and the warm white light LED(wWLEDs) was successfully prepared by encapsulating Eu-PTA/Tb-SSA/ZrO_(2)/ZnZrO_(3) phosphors together with 270 nm UV-chip.The ZrO_(2)/ZnZrO_(3),Tb-SSA/ZrO_(2)/ZnZrO_(3) and Eu-PTA/ZrO_(2)/ZnZrO_(3) samples show blue emission,green emission and red emission under deep ultraviolet(UV,270 nm) excitation,respectively.The Tb-SSA and Eu-PTA are co-doped into ZrO_(2)/ZnZrO_(3) matrix with blue emission to achieve the warm white light emission,and the light color can be adjusted by controlling the doping amount of Eu^(3+)-and Tb^(3+).Through the excitation method of single-component phosphor by the single chip,the complex chip packaging process of w-LED can be solved.By doping rare earth organic complexes into porous ZrO_(2)/ZnZrO_(3) matrix,the problems of the light color unbalanced of phosphor and the low luminescence intensity of rare earth doped metal oxides composites can be solved.

Decorating rare-earth fluoride upconversion nanoparticles on AuNRs@Ag core-shell structure for NIR light-mediated photothermal therapy and bioimaging

Photothermal therapy(PTT)has presented its inherent application value in cancer treatment.Nevertheless,single-functional photothermal materials cannot meet the precise diagnosis and treatment of cance r.Therefo re,it is important to design a nanocomposite that has both high therapeutic efficiency and multimodal imaging capabilities.In our work,a new nanostructure of gold nanorods(AuNRs)with silver shells decorated by BaGdF5:Yb^(3+),Er^(3+)nanoparticle was synthesized by a simple way.The biostability of AuNRs is increased by coating with silver shells,and the AuNR@Ag nanoparticles can be used as excellent surface enhanced Raman scattering(SERS)probe.Moreover,the modification of BaGdF5:Yb^(3+),Er^(3+)nanoparticles provides the possibility of real-time optical imaging of the tumor area.Under the irradiation of NIR laser,the AuNR@Ag/BaGdF5:Yb^(3+),Er^(3+)nanocomposites(NCs)have strong upconversion emission and excellent photothermal conversion efficiency.Meanwhile,the NCs show low cytotoxicity and good biocompatibility in MTT cytotoxicity test.Moreover,the NCs are also exceptional contrast agents for CT imaging.For in vitro photothermal therapy test,NCs show excellent killing efficiency on tumor cells.Therefore,the multifaceted research of AuNR@Ag/BaGdF5:Yb^(3+),Er^(3+)multifunctional nanomaterials provides a break for high-efficiency tumor photothermal therapy and multimodal imaging.

Femtosecond laser micro-nano processing for boosting bubble releasing of gas evolution reactions

Coupling effect of chemical composition and physical structure is a key factor to construct superaerophobic electrodes.Almost all reports about superaerophobic electrodes were aimed at precisely controlling morphology of loaded materials(constructing specific structure)and ignored the due role of substrate.Nevertheless,in this work,by using high precision and controllable femtosecond laser,hierarchical micro-nano structures with superaerophobic properties were constructed on the surface of silicon substrate(fs-Si),and such special super-wettability could be successfully inherited to subsequent self-supporting electrodes through chemical synthesis.Femtosecond laser processing endowed electrodes with high electrochemical surface area,strong physical structure,and remarkable superaerophobic efficacy.As an unconventional processing method,the reconstructed morphology of substrate surface bears the responsibility of superaerophobicity,thus liberating the structural constraints on loaded materials.Since this key of coupling effect is transferred from the loaded materials to substrate,we provided a new general scheme for synthesizing superaerophobic electrodes.The successful introduction of femtosecond laser will open a new idea to synthesize self-supporting electrodes for gas-involving reactions.

Eu^(3+)ions grafted polyacrylonitrile nanofibers possessing enhanced fluorescence performance by introducing benzoic acid as assistant ligand

Eu^(3+) ions were grafted onto the surface of electrospun polyacrylonitrile(PAN)nanofibers through coordination effect between C≡N groups on PAN nanofibers and Eu^(3+) ions,and benzoic acid(BA)was introduced as an assistant ligand.The impacts of concentrations of Eu^(3+) ions and BA,and reaction time on the properties of final products were investigated.The results reveal that Eu^(3+) ions can be successfully grafted onto PAN nanofibers,but the fluorescence intensity of the obtained PAN@Eu^(3+) nanofibers is very weak.After BA is introduced as the assistant ligand,the fluorescence intensity of the obtained PAN@(Eu^(3+)/BA)nanofibers is greatly stronger than that of PAN@Eu^(3+)nanofibers,and meanwhile,concentration quenching effect of Eu^(3+) ions can be effectively restrained.Furthermore,the superior structure of PAN@(Eu^(3+)/BA)nanofibers not only brings the effective utilization of precious elemental europium,but also guarantees high mechanical strength.