Apically guiding electron/mass transfer reaction induced by Ag/FeN_(x)Mott-Schottky effect within a hollow star reactor toward high performance zinc-air batteries

The disparity in the transfer of carriers(electrons/mass)during the reaction in zinc-air batteries(ZABs)results in sluggish kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)and oxygen evolution reaction(OER),along with elevated overpotentials,thereby imposing additional constraints on its utilization.Therefore,the pre-design and target-development of inexpensive,high-performance,and long-term stable bifunctional catalysts are urgently needed.In this work,an apically guiding dual-functional electrocatalyst(Ag-FeN_(x)-N-C)was prepared,in which a hierarchical porous nitrogen-doped carbon with three-dimensional(3D)hollow star-shaped structure is used as a substrate and high-conductivity Ag nanoparticles are coupled with iron nitride(FeN_(x))nanoparticles.Theoretical calculations indicate that the Mott-Schottky heterojunction as an inherent electric field comes from the two-phase bound of Ag and FeN_(x),of which electron accumulation in the FeN_(x)phase region and electron depletion in the Ag phase region promote orientated-guiding charge migration.The effective modulation of local electronic structures felicitously reforms the d-band electron-group distribution,and intellectually tunes the masstransfer reaction energy barriers for both ORR/OER.Additionally,the hollow star-s haped hierarchical porous structure provides an apical region for fast mass transfer.Experimental results show that the halfwave potential for ORR is 0.914 V,and the overpotential for OER is only 327 mV at 10 mA cm^(-2).A rechargeable ZAB with Ag-FeN_(x)-N-C as the air cathode demonstrates long-term cycling performance exceeding 1500 cycles(500 h),with a power density of 180 mW cm^(-2).Moreover,when employing AgFeN_(x)-N-C as the air cathode,flexible ZABs demonstrate a notable open-circuit voltage of 1.42 V and achieve a maximum power density of 65.6 mW cm^(-2).Ag-FeN_(x)-N-C shows guiding electron/mass transfer route and apical reaction microenvironment for the electrocatalyst architecture in the exploration prospects of ZABs.

Improvement of CO2 capture performance of calcium-based absorbent modified with palygorskite

Limestone can be used for CO_2 capture and sequestration(CCS) in flue gas effectively. However, its CCS capability will dramatically decline after several cycles due to the surface "sintering". In this work, the limestone was modified with palygorskite to reduce sintering phenomenon between the absorbent particles during the CCS process and the carbonation rate of the limestone can be enhanced effectively. Palygorskite is a natural mineral with nano-fibrous structure which can reduce the mutual contact of limestone particles during the CCS process. The results were detected by TGA, SEM, MIP, FTIR and particle size analyzer respectively. The best CO_2 capture performance of modified absorbent was 13.11% improvement with only 5 wt% palygorskite added during the CCS process after 15 cycles compared with natural absorbent. It was found that excellent microscopic structures of absorbent modified with palygorskite was created, and the surface sintering was postponed leading to CO_2 capture performance enhanced under the same conditions.

Multidimensional and Multifunctional Graphenes(MMG)and Their Industrial Applications

Graphene oxide(GO)as a precursor was re-cently found to be assembled into multidimensionalstructure such as,quantum dots(QD),nano-rolls(NR),micro-fibersthin films,aerogels,and multifunctional performance in terms of highsurface areas,high thermal and electric conduct-ing,and special magneticand optical properties.Those multidimensional Graphene based mate-

Machine learning will revolutionize perovskite solar cells

With the emergence of ChatGPT and its rapid iteration speed,artificial intelligence(AI)has undoubtedly become the driving force behind a new wave of technological revolution.After more than half a century of development,AI has become akin to the steam engine of the Industrial Revolution,propelling humanity into the era of intelligence.The global industrial chain has also recognized that AI technology will spearhead a new wave of industrial transformation and development.Machine learning(ML),driven by data,abstracts real-life problems into mathematical problems and solves them using computers.It is currently the mainstream method for addressing many AI problems.Perovskite solar cells(PSCs)are currently the focus of researchers around the world due to their high efficiency,low cost,and simple manufacturing process.They are considered the most promising third-generation solar cell for commercialization.In 2011,the United States proposed the Materials Genome Initiative(MGI).The main idea is to utilize the“trinity”approach of computing,data,and experiments to transform the conventional“trial and error”model of materials research and development,which relies heavily on experience and experimentation,in order to enhance the quality,speed of discovery,development,production,and application of new materials.Driven by the MGI,research on the combination of ML with great application potential and rapidly developing PSC(ML&PSC)emerged(Figure 1).