A lean-zinc anode battery based on metal-organic framework-derived carbon

Improving zinc metal(Zn^(0))reversibility and minimizing the N/P ratio are critical to boosting the energy density of Zn^(0) batteries.However,in reality,an excess Zn source is usually adopted to offset the irreversible zinc loss and guarantee sufficient zinc cycling,which sacrifices the energy density and leads to poor practicability of Zn^(0) batteries.To address the above conundrum,here,we report a lean-Zn and hierarchical anode based on metal-organic framework(MOF)-derived carbon,where trace Zn^(0) is pre-reserved within the anode structure to make up for any irreversible zinc source loss.This allows us to construct low N/P ratio Zn^(0) full cells when coupling the lean-Zn anode with Zn-containing cathodes.Impressively,high Zn^(0) reversibility(average Coulombic efficiency of 99.4% for 3000 cycles)and long full-cell lifetime(92% capacity retention after 900 cycles)were realized even under the harsh lean-Zn condition(N/P ratio:1.34).The excellent Zn reversibility is attributed to the hierarchy structure that homogenizes zinc ion flux and electric field distribution,as confirmed by theoretical simulations,which therefore stabilizes Zn^(0) evolution.The lean-Zn anode design strategy will provide new insights into construction of high-energy Zn^(0) batteries for practical applications.

INTEGRATED APPROACH TO ASSEMBLY SEQUENCE PLANNING OF C0MPLEX PRODUCTS

Assembly sequence planning will be more difficult due to the increasingcomplexity of products. An integrated approach to assembly sequence planning of complex productsapplying de-composition-planning-combination strategy is presented. First, an assembly is decomposedinto a hierarchical structure using an assembly structure representation based on connectors. Then,an assembly planning system is used to generate the sequences that are locally optimal for eachleaf partition hi the structure hierarchy. By combining the local sequences systematically in abottom-up manner and choosing suitable ones from the merged sequences, the assembly sequence of eachparent structure including the whole assembly is generated. An integrated system has beencompleted. A complex product is given to illustrate the feasibility and the practicality of theapproach.

Microwave-hydrothermal preparation of a graphene/hierarchy structure MnO_2 composite for a supercapacitor

Graphene/hierarchy structure manganese dioxide （GN/MnO2） composites were synthesized using a simple microwave-hydrothermal method. The properties of the prepared composites were analyzed using field emission scanning electron microscopy （FE-SEM）, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） measurements. The electrochemical performances of the composites were analyzed using cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectrometry （EIS）, and chronopotentiometry. The results showed that GN/MnO2 （10 wt% graphene） displayed a specific capacitance of 244 F/g at a current density of 100 mA/g. An excellent cyclic stability was obtained with a capacity retention of approximately 94.3% after 500 cycles in a 1 mol/L Li2SO4 solution. The improved electrochemical performance is attributed to the hierarchy structure of the manganese dioxide, which can enlarge the interface between the active materials and the electrolyte. The prepa- ration route provides a new approach for hierarchy structure graphene composites; this work could be readily extended to the preparation of other graphene-based composites with different structures for use in energy storage devices.