Interface Reversible Electric Field Regulated by Amphoteric Charged Protein-Based Coating Toward High-Rate and Robust Zn Anode

Metallic interface engineering is a promising strategy to stabilize Zn anode via promoting Zn^(2+) uniform deposition.However,strong interactions between the coating and Zn^(2+) and sluggish transport of Zn^(2+) lead to high anodic polarization.Here,we present a bio-inspired silk fibroin(SF)coating with amphoteric charges to construct an interface reversible electric field,which manipulates the transfer kinetics of Zn^(2+) and reduces anodic polarization.The alternating positively and negatively charged surface as a build-in driving force can expedite and homogenize Zn^(2+) flux via the inter-play between the charged coating and adsorbed ions,endowing the Zn-SF anode with low polarization voltage and stable plating/stripping.Experimental analyses with theo-retical calculations suggest that SF can facilitate the desolvation of[Zn(H_(2)O)_(6)]^(2+) and provide nucleation sites for uniform deposition.Consequently,the Zn-SF anode delivers a high-rate performance with low voltage polarization(83 mV at 20 mA cm^(−2)) and excellent stability(1500 h at 1 mA cm^(−2);500 h at 10 mA cm^(−2)),realizing exceptional cumulative capacity of 2.5 Ah cm^(−2).The full cell coupled with Zn_(x)V_(2)O_(5)·nH_(2)O(ZnVO)cathode achieves specific energy of~270.5/150.6 Wh kg^(−1)(at 0.5/10 A g^(−1))with-99.8% Coulombic efficiency and retains~80.3%(at 5.0 A g^(−1))after 3000 cycles.

Insights into the photocatalytic mechanism of the C4N/MoS2 heterostructure: A first-principle study

Constructing heterostructures by combining COFs and TMD is a new strategy to design efficient photocatalysts for CO2 reduction reaction(CO2RR) due to their good stability,tunable band gaps and efficient charge separation.Based on the synthesis of completely novel C4N-COF in our previous re ported work,a new C4N/MoS2 heterostructure was constructed and then the related structural,electronic and optical properties were also studied using first principle calculations.The interlayer coupling effect and charge transfer between the C4N and MoS2 layer are systematically illuminated.The reduced band gap of the C4N/MoS2 heterostructure is beneficial to absorb more visible light.For the formation of type-Ⅱ band alignment,a built-in electric field appears which separates the photogene rated electrons and holes into different layers efficiently and produces redox active sites.The band alignment of the heterostructure ensures its photocatalytic activities of the whole CO2 reduction reaction.Furthermore,the charge density difference and charge carrier mobility confirm the existence of the built-in electric field at the interface of the C4N/MoS2 heterostructure directly.Finally,the high optical absorption indicates it is an efficient visible light harvesting photocatalyst.Therefore,this wo rk could provide strong insights into the internal mechanism and high photocatalytic activity of the C4N/MoS2 heterostructure and offer guiding of designing and synthesizing COF/TMD heterostructure photocatalysts.