Two-dimensional multimetallic sulfide nanosheets with multi-active sites to enhance polysulfide redox reactions in liquid Li2S6-based lithium-polysulfide batteries

The lithium-sulfur battery has attracted enormous attention as being one of the most significant energy storage technologies due to its high energy density and cost-effectiveness.However,the "shuttle effect" of polysulfide intermediates represents a formidable challenge towards its wide applications.Herein,we have designed and synthesized two-dimensional Cu,Zn and Sn-based multimetallic sulfide nanosheets to construct multi-active sites for the immobilization and entrapment of polysulfides with offering better performance in liquid Li2S6-based lithium-polysulfide batteries.Both experimental measurements and theoretical computations demonstrate that the interfacial multi-active sites of multimetallic sulfides not only accelerate the multi-chained redox reactions of highly diffusible polysulfides,but also strengthen affinities toward polysulfides.By adopting multimetallic sulfide nanosheets as the sulfur host,the liquid Li2 S6-based cell exhibits an impressive rate capability with 1200 mAh/g and retains 580 mAh/g at 0.5 mA/cm^(2) after 1000 cycles.With high sulfur mass loading conditions,the cell with 2.0 mg/cm^(2) sulfur loading delivers a cell capacity of 1068 mAh/g and maintains 480 mAh/g with 0.8 mA/cm^(2) and 500 cycles.This study provides new insights into the multifunctional material design with multi-active sites for elevated lithium-polysulfide batteries.

Active anticorrosion and self-healing coatings:A review with focus on multi-action smart coating strategies

The development of smart coatings with potential for active anticorrosion and self-healing protection of metals is essential for long-term performance of metallic structures in aggressive chemical environments.Presently,emphasis has been placed on the development of advanced smart coatings for corrosion protection in different applications.Innovative multifunctional coatings with fascinating stimuliresponsive functionalities are considered“smart”.The stimuli-responsive functionalities of these smart coatings when properly harnessed result in a class of coatings with inherent autonomous control of corrosion.Fundamentally,when metals are exposed to aggressive environments,occurrences at the metalsolution interface cause environmental changes.These changes can be controlled when triggers from external environment set off active components of smart coating,thereby enhancing coating’s life and functionality.Common triggers include the availability of moisture,concentration of chloride ion,p H gradient,mechanical damage,impact,fatigue,light,redox activity and temperature.In this review,recent technological trends in active anticorrosion and self-healing coatings as functional routes for metal protection are summarized,stimuli responsiveness and mechanisms of inhibition are discussed,and recent multi-action protective systems are particularly focused on.

Preclinical Strength Checking for Artificial Pelvic Prosthesis under Multi-activities-A Case Study

Customized prostheses are normally employed to reconstruct the biomechanics of the pelvis after resection due to tumors or accidents.The objective of this study is to evaluate the biomechanics of the pelvis under different daily activities and to establish a functional evaluation methodology for the customized prostheses.For this purposes,finite element model of a healthy pelvis as well as a reconstructed pelvic model after type II+III resection were built for biomechanical study.The biomechanical perfonnance of the healthy and reconstructed pelvic model was studied under routine activities including standing,knee bending,sitting down,standing up,walking,stair descent and stair ascent.Subsequently,the strength and stability of the prosthesis were evaluated under these activities.Results showed that,for the heathy pelvic model,the stresses were mainly concentrated around the upper part of the sacrum and the sacroiliac joint undergoing different activities,and the maximum stress occurred during stair ascent.As for the reconstructed pelvis,the stress distribution and the tendency of the maximum stress variation predicted for the bone part during all the activities were similar to those of the natural pelvic model,which indicated that the load transferring function of the reconstructed pelvis could be restored by the prosthesis.Moreover,the predicted maximum von Mises stress of the screws and prosthesis was below the fatigue strength of the 3D printed Ti-6A1-4V,which indicated the prosthesis can provide a reliable mechanical performance after implantation.

CNTs/CNF-supported multi-active components as highly efficient bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts and their applications in zincair batteries

Rational construction of active components has been the biggest challenge in preparing efficient bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts.Herein,electrospinning and chemical vapor deposition(CVD)were employed to embed active species including FeCo nanoparticles,MNx(M=Fe,Co),and FePx in porous and graphitized carbon nanotubes(CNTs)/carbon nanofiber(CNF).The as-prepared FeCo@CoNx@FePx/C exhibited a half-wave potential as high as 0.86 V in oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)and low oxygen evolution reaction(OER)overpotential of 368 mV at 10 mA·cm^(−2),which are superior to Pt/C(0.83 V)and IrO_(2)(375 mV)respectively.The assembled Zn-air battery(ZAB)showed a high energy efficiency(Edischarge/Echarge)of 65%at 20 mA·cm^(−2)and stabilized for 700 charge-discharge cycles.The spectroscopic and microscopic characterizations evidenced that the outstanding bifunctionality of the electrocatalyst can be ascribed to three main reasons:First,FeCo nanoparticles are rich in MOH/MOOH active sites for OER,and FePx/CNTs constructed with CVD also modulate electronic structure to improve electron transfer;second,both MNx in carbon matrix and FePx/CNTs are highly active towards ORR;third,the CNTs/CNF are highly porous and graphitized,which promotes mass transport and improves electrical conductivity and stability of the electrocatalysts.This work gives important implications on the design of bifunctional electrocatalysts.

Integration of partially phosphatized bimetal centers into trifunctional catalyst for high-performance hydrogen production and flexible Zn-air battery

The development of robust and efficient trifunctional catalysts showing excellent oxygen evolution reaction(OER), oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) and hydrogen evolution reaction(HER) kinetics has been challenging.Herein, we prepared a hybrid iron and cobalt-based metal alloy phosphide on a phosphorus and nitrogen co-doped carbon substrate(Fe Co-P/PNC) as a catalyst using a one-step Pregulation method. The catalyst exhibited a positive half-wave potential of 0.86 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode(RHE) for ORR, and low overpotentials of 350 and 158 m V for OER and HER, respectively, to achieve a current density of10 m A cm^(-2). Density functional theory calculations demonstrated the dominant role of P in both Fe Co phosphide and carbon matrix, which led to the good ORR, OER and HER kinetics. The assembled aqueous and flexible Zn-air batteries with Fe Co-P/PNC as the air cathode displayed excellent peak power densities of 195.1 and 90.8 m W cm^(-2), respectively, as well as outstanding charging-discharging performance, long lifetime, and high flexibility. Moreover, the self-powered overall water-splitting cell exhibited a low working voltage of1.71 V to achieve a current density of 10 m A cm^(-2), confirming its excellent multifunctional OER/ORR/HER activity.

Atomically dispersed indium and cerium sites for selectively electroreduction of CO_(2)to formate

Currently,single-atom combo catalysts(SACCs)for carbon dioxide reduction reaction(CO_(2)RR)to the formation of HCOOH are still very limited,especially the lanthanide-based SACCs.In this work,the novel SACCs with atomically dispersed In and Ce active sites were successfully prepared on the nitrogen-doped carbon matrix(InCe/CN).Both aberration-corrected high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy(AC-HAADF-STEM)images and the extended X-ray absorption fine structure(EXAFS)spectra proved the well-isolated In and Ce atoms.The as-prepared InCe/CN shows a high Faradaic efficiency(FE)(77%)and current density of HCOOH formation(j_(HCOOH))at-1.35 V vs.reversible hydrogen electrode(RHE),much higher than the single atom catalysts.Theoretical calculations have indicated that the introduced Ce single atom sites not only significantly promote electron transfer but also optimize the In-5p orbitals towards higher selectivity towards the HCOOH formation.This work innovatively extends the design of SACCs towards the main group and Ln metals for more applications.