Recent progress and challenges in structural construction strategy of metal-based catalysts for nitrate electroreduction to ammonia

Ammonia plays an essential role in human production and life as a raw material for chemical fertilizers.The nitrate electroreduction to ammonia reaction(NO_(3)RR)has garnered attention due to its advantages over the Haber-Bosch process and electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction.Therefore,it represents a promising approach to safeguard the ecological environment by enabling the cycling of nitrogen species.This review begins by discussing the theoretical insights of the NO_(3)RR.It then summarizes recent advances in catalyst design and construction strategies,including alloying,structure engineering,surface engineering,and heterostructure engineering.Finally,the challenges and prospects in this field are presented.This review aims to guide for enhancing the efficiency of electrocatalysts in the NO_(3)RR,and offers insights for converting NO_(3)-to NH_(3).

Emerging two-dimensional metallenes:Recent advances in structural regulations and electrocatalytic applications

Benefiting from the ultrahigh specific surface areas,highly accessible surface atoms,and highly tunable microscopic structures,the two-dimensional metallenes as nanocatalysts have displayed promising performance for various electrocatalytic reactions.Herein,we reviewed recent advances on metallenes in structural regulations including defect,phase,strain,interface,doping,and alloying engineering strategies and their applications in energy electrocatalytic reactions involving oxygen reduction reaction,carbon dioxide reduction reaction,hydrogen evolution reaction,and small molecules oxidation reaction.Finally,we proposed the future challenges and directions in this emerging area.

Recent development of transient electronics

Transient electronics are an emerging class of electronics with the unique characteristic to completely dissolve within a programmed period of time. Since no harmful byproducts are released, these electronics can be used in the human body as a diagnostic tool, for instance, or they can be used as environmentally friendly alternatives to existing electronics which disintegrate when exposed to water. Thus, the most crucial aspect of transient electronics is their ability to disintegrate in a practical manner and a review of the literature on this topic is essential for understanding the current capabilities of transient electronics and areas of future research. In the past, only partial dissolution of transient electronics was possible, however, total dissolution has been achieved with a recent discovery that silicon nanomembrane undergoes hydrolysis. The use of single- and multi-layered structures has also been explored as a way to extend the lifetime of the electronics. Analytical models have been developed to study the dissolution of various functional materials as well as the devices constructed from this set of functional materials and these models prove to be useful in the design of the transient electronics.

Fabrication of electrospun bilayer separators for lithium-sulfur batteries:A surface and structure dual modification strategy

The severe shuttle effect problem of soluble polysulfides greatly hinders the development of long-life lithium-sulfur(Li-S)batteries,which can be improved by separator modification.This study develops a bilayer separator based on an effective surface and structure dual modification strategy.This bilayer separator(named as TCNFs/SPNFs)is constructed by the integration of a carbon-based nanofiber layer(surface modification layer)with a polymer-based nanofiber layer(structure modification layer)through a facile electrospinning process.The excellent electrolyte wettability of the nanofibers accelerates lithium-ion migration,while the good electronic conductivity of the carbon layer facilitates fast electron conduction.The TiO_(2)and SiO_(2)nanoparticles embedded in the separator provide abundant active sites for immobilizing the polysulfides.Owing to these synergistic effects,this multi-functional separator helps inhibit the shuttling problem and thus enhances the active sulfur utilization.The as-prepared battery with the TCNFs/SPNFs separator delivers significantly enhanced the electrochemical performances,producing a low capacity decay rate of 0.061%per cycle at 1 C over 1000 cycles and an admirable rate capacity of 886.7 mAh g^(-1)at 2 C.Even with a high sulfur loading of 4.8 mg cm^(-2),a remarkable areal capacity of 6.0 mAh cm^(-2)is attained.This work is believed to provide a promising strategy to develop novel separators for high-performance Li-S batteries.

America's Journey to Energy Independence and Its Revelation on China's Energy Supply Security

Ever since 2005, the US' shale oil and gas production growth and effective adjustment of domestic energy consumption mix have made it possible for the country to be less dependent upon imported energy and gain energy independence. What should we learn from it to guarantee energy supply security? This paper tried to answer the question.