Dual Additives for Stabilizing Li Deposition and SEI Formation in Anode-Free Li-Metal Batteries

Anode-free Li-metal batteries are of significant interest to energy storage industries due to their intrinsically high energy.However,the accumulative Li dendrites and dead Li continuously consume active Li during cycling.That results in a short lifetime and low Coulombic efficiency of anode-free Li-metal batteries.Introducing effective electrolyte additives can improve the Li deposition homogeneity and solid electrolyte interphase(SEI)stability for anode-free Li-metal batteries.Herein,we reveal that introducing dual additives,composed of LiAsF6 and fluoroethylene carbonate,into a low-cost commercial carbonate electrolyte will boost the cycle life and average Coulombic efficiency of NMC‖Cu anode-free Li-metal batteries.The NMC‖Cu anode-free Li-metal batteries with the dual additives exhibit a capacity retention of about 75%after 50 cycles,much higher than those with bare electrolytes(35%).The average Coulombic efficiency of the NMC‖Cu anode-free Li-metal batteries with additives can maintain 98.3%over 100 cycles.In contrast,the average Coulombic efficiency without additives rapidly decline to 97%after only 50 cycles.In situ Raman measurements reveal that the prepared dual additives facilitate denser and smoother Li morphology during Li deposition.The dual additives significantly suppress the Li dendrite growth,enabling stable SEI formation on anode and cathode surfaces.Our results provide a broad view of developing low-cost and high-effective functional electrolytes for high-energy and long-life anode-free Li-metal batteries.

Chalcogenide-based S-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts

The unique photocatalytic mechanism of S-scheme heterojunction can be used to study new and efficient photocatalysts.By carefully selecting semiconductors for S-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts,it is possible to reduce the rate of photogenerated carrier recombination and increase the conversion efficiency of light into energy.Chalcogenides are a group of compounds that include sulfides and selenides(e.g.,CdS,ZnS,Bi_(2)S_(3),MoS_(2),ZnSe,CdSe,and CuSe).Chalcogenides have attracted considerable attention as heterojunction photocatalysts owing to their narrow bandgap,wide light absorption range,and excellent photoreduction properties.This paper presents a thorough analysis of S-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts based on chalcogenides.Following an introduction to the fundamental characteristics and benefits of S-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts,various chalcogenide-based S-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst synthesis techniques are summarized.These photocatalysts are used in numerous significant photocatalytic reactions,in-cluding the reduction of carbon dioxide,synthesis of hydrogen peroxide,conversion of organic matter,generation of hydrogen from water,nitrogen fixation,degradation of organic pollutants,and sterilization.In addition,cutting-edge characterization techniques,including in situ characterization techniques,are discussed to validate the steady and transient states of photocatalysts with an S-scheme heterojunction.Finally,the design and challenges of chalcogenide-based S-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts are explored and recommended in light of state-of-the-art research.

Mixed Method for Compressible Miscible Displacement with Dispersion in Porous Media

Compressible miscible displacement of one fluid by another in porous media is modelled by a nonlinear parabolic system. A finite element procedure is introduced to approximate the concentration of one fluid and the pressure of the mixture. The concentration is treated by a Galerkin method while the pressure is treated by a parabolic mixed finite element method. The effect of dispersion, which is neglected in [1], is considered. Optimal order estimates in L2 are derived for the errors in the approximate solutions.

New electrochemical energy storage systems based on metallic lithium anode the research status,problems and challenges of lithium-sulfur,lithium-oxygen and all solid state batteries

Li-ion batteries have played a key role in the portable electronics and electrification of transport in modern society. Nevertheless,the limited highest energy density of Li-ion batteries is not sufficient for the long-term needs of society. Since lithium is the lightest metal among all metallic elements and possesses the lowest redox potential of.3.04 V vs. standard hydrogen electrode, it delivers the highest theoretical specific capacity of 3860 mA h g^(-1) and a high working voltage of full batteries which causes a great interest in electrochemical energy storage systems. Lithium-sulfur, lithium-oxygen and corresponding all solid state batteries based on metal lithium anode have received widely attention owing to their high energy densities. However, the problems in the cathode,electrolyte and anode of these three systems restrict their practical application. In this review, the research status and problems of these three energy storage systems are summarized and the challenges and future perspectives are also outlined.

Substantial thermoelectric enhancement achieved by manipulating the band structure and dislocations in Ag and La co-doped SnTe

Eco-friendly SnTe based thermoelectric materials are intensively studied recently as candidates to replace PbTe;yet the thermoelectric performance of SnTe is suppressed by its intrinsically high carrier concentration and high thermal conductivity.In this work,we confirm that the Ag and La co-doping can be applied to simultaneously enhance the power factor and reduce the thermal conductivity,contributing to a final promotion of figure of merit.On one hand,the carrier concentration and band offset between valence bands are concurrently reduced,promoting the power factor to a highest value of-2436μW·m^(-1)·K^(-2) at 873 K.On the other hand,lots of dislocations(~3.16×10^(7)mm^(-2))associated with impurity precipitates are generated,resulting in the decline of thermal conductivity to a minimum value of 1.87 W·m^(-1)·K^(-1) at 873 K.As a result,a substantial thermoelectric performance enhancement up to zT≈1.0 at 873 K is obtained for the sample Sn0.94Ag0.09La0.05Te,which is twice that of the pristine SnTe(zT≈0.49 at 873 K).This strategy of synergistic manipulation of electronic band and microstructures via introducing rare earth elements could be applied to other systems to improve thermoelectric performance.