Practical evaluation of prelithiation strategies for next-generation lithium-ion batteries

With the increasing market demand for high-performance lithium-ion batteries with high-capacity electrode materials,reducing the irreversible capacity loss in the initial cycle and compensating for the active lithium loss during the cycling process are critical challenges.In recent years,various prelithiation strategies have been developed to overcome these issues.Since these approaches are carried out under a wide range of conditions,it is essential to evaluate their suitability for large-scale commercial applications.In this review,these strategies are categorized based on different battery assembling stages that they are implemented in,including active material synthesis,the slurry mixing process,electrode pretreatment,and battery fabrication.Furthermore,their advantages and disadvantages in commercial production are discussed from the perspective of thermodynamics and kinetics.This review aims to provide guidance for the future development of prelithiation strategies toward commercialization,which will potentially promote the practical application of next-generation high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries.

Oxygen-defects evolution to stimulate continuous capacity increase in Co-free Li-rich layered oxides

Though oxygen defects are associated with deteriorated structures and aggravated cycling performance in traditional layered cathodes,the role of oxygen defects is still ambiguous in Li-rich layered oxides due to the involvement of oxygen redox.Herein,a Co-free Li-rich layered oxide Li_(1.286)Ni_(0.071)Mn_(0.643)O_(2)has been prepared by a co-precipitation method to systematically investigate the undefined effects of the oxygen defects.A significant O_(2)release and the propagation of oxygen vacancies were detected by operando differential electrochemical mass spectroscopy(DEMS)and electron energy loss spectroscopy(EELS),respectively.Scanning transmission electron microscopy-high angle annular dark field(STEMHAADF)reveals the oxygen vacancies fusing to nanovoids and monitors a stepwise electrochemical activation process of the large Li_(2)MnO_(3)domain upon cycling.Combined with the quantitative analysis conducted by the energy dispersive spectrometer(EDS),existed nano-scale oxygen defects actually expose more surface to the electrolyte for facilitating the electrochemical activation and subsequently increasing available capacity.Overall,this work persuasively elucidates the function of oxygen defects on oxygen redox in Co-free Li-rich layered oxides.

Expressions for Entropy Production Rate of Fuel Cells

On the basis of a general model of fuel cells, the entropy production rates of a fuel cell system under different conditions are derived by using theories of electrochemistry and thermodynamics. In order to analyze the influence of the irreversible losses existing in an actual fuel cell, the equivalent circuit of the fuel cell is introduced, so that the irreversible factor of the fuel cell may be determined directly as a function of the internal, leak and load resistances. Moreover, the maximum power output and efficiency of the fuel cell are calculated, the optimal operation of the fuel cell is discussed, and the matching condition of the load resistance is determined.

A high-durability aqueous Cu-S battery assisted by pre-copper electrochemistry

Although research interest in aqueous metal-sulfur batteries(AMSs)has surged due to their intrinsic low cost and high capacity,the practical application of AMSs remains a considerable challenge because of the restrictive cycling stability.To circumvent this issue,we propose an innovative and simple pre-copper strategy to realize a high-durability aqueous Cu-S battery.The precopper strategy can effectively promote a stable metal dissolution/deposition,compensate for charge carriers,and facilitate reaction kinetics during the subsequent process.As a result,the aqueous Cu-S battery when coupled with S-decorated porous Ti_(3)C_(2)(S-d-Ti_(3)C_(2))exhibits excellent electrochemical performance,delivering a highly reversible capacity of 1805.4 mAh·g^(-1)in the initial cycle at 0.8 A·g^(-1),impressive cycling stability with 90.2%capacity retention over 800 cycles,and ultralow polarization~0.08 V even at a high current density of 3.1 A·g^(-1).The findings obtained in this work could pave the way for the design of highperformance sulfur-based aqueous batteries,which fill the vacancy of the necessary metal anode,delivering merits in both cost and cycle life.

Effect of niobium substitution on microstructures and thermal stability of TbCu7-type Sm-Fe-N magnets

This paper reports crystal structures, magnetic properties and thermal stability of TbCu7-type Sm（8.5）Fe（（85.8-x）Co（4.5）Zr（1.2）Nbx（x = 0-1.8） melt-spun compounds and their nitrides, investigated by means of X-ray diffraction, vibrating sample magnetometer, flux meter and transmission electron microscope. It is found that the lattice parameter ratio c/a of TbCu7-type crystal structure increases with Nb substitution, which indicates that the Nb can increase the stability of the metastable phase in the Sm-Fe ribbons. Nb substitution impedes the formation of magnetic soft phase a-Fe in which reversed domains initially form during the magnetization reversal process. Meanwhile, Nb substitution refines grains and leads to homogeneous micro structure with augmented grain boundaries. Thus the exchange coupling pining field is enhanced and irreversible domain wall propagation gets suppressed. As a result, the magnetic properties are improved and the irreversible flux loss of magnets is notably decreased. A maximum value 771.7 kA/m of the intrinsic coercivity H（cj） is achieved in the 1.2 at% substituted samples.The irreversible flux loss for 2 h exposure at 120 ℃ declines from 8.26% for Nb-free magnets to 6.32% for magnets with 1.2 at% Nb substitution.