Lithium-Ion Charged Polymer Channels Flattening Lithium Metal Anode

The concentration difference in the near-surface region of lithium metal is the main cause of lithium dendrite growth.Resolving this issue will be key to achieving high-performance lithium metal batteries(LMBs).Herein,we construct a lithium nitrate(LiNO_(3))-implanted electroactiveβphase polyvinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene(PVDF-HFP)crystalline polymorph layer(PHL).The electronegatively charged polymer chains attain lithium ions on the surface to form lithium-ion charged channels.These channels act as reservoirs to sustainably release Li ions to recompense the ionic flux of electrolytes,decreasing the growth of lithium dendrites.The stretched molecular channels can also accelerate the transport of Li ions.The combined effects enable a high Coulombic efficiency of 97.0%for 250 cycles in lithium(Li)||copper(Cu)cell and a stable symmetric plating/stripping behavior over 2000 h at 3 mA cm^(-2)with ultrahigh Li utilization of 50%.Furthermore,the full cell coupled with PHL-Cu@Li anode and Li Fe PO_(4) cathode exhibits long-term cycle stability with high-capacity retention of 95.9%after 900 cycles.Impressively,the full cell paired with LiNi_(0.87)Co_(0.1)Mn_(0.03)O_(2)maintains a discharge capacity of 170.0 mAh g^(-1)with a capacity retention of 84.3%after 100 cycles even under harsh condition of ultralow N/P ratio of 0.83.This facile strategy will widen the potential application of LiNO_(3)in ester-based electrolyte for practical high-voltage LMBs.

A Pair of 3D Homochiral Coordination Polymers with Open Channels Constructed by Lactic Acid Derivative Ligands and In-situ Formed Anions

With the help of in-situ formed CH_3COO- anion, a pair of 3D homochiral coordination polymers with open channels were constructed by the assembly of lactic acid derivative ligands, 1.4-DIB ligands and Cd（II） ions, namely [Cd3（（R）-CIA）2（CH3CO2）_2（1.4-DIB）2（H2O）2]·x（Guest）（1-D） and [Cd3（（S）-CIA）2（CH3CO2）2（1.4-DIB）2（H2O）2]·x（Guest）（1-L）. They contain 1D interesting ladder-like Cd-（R）-CIA（3-） chains and exhibit SHG-active behavior and photoluminescent property.

Helix-like structure formation of a semi-flexible chain confined in a cylinder channel

Molecular dynamics method is used to study the conformation behavior of a semi-flexible polymer chain confined in a cylinder channel.A novel helix-like structure is found to form during the simulation.Moreover,the detailed characteristic parameters and formation probability of these helix-like structures under moderate conditions are investigated.We find that the structure is not a perfect helix,but a bundle of elliptical turns.In addition,we conduct a statistical analysis for the chain monomer distribution along the radial direction.This research contributes to our understanding of the microscopic conformation of polymer chains in confined environments filled with a solvent.

Effect of polymer and fiber additives on pressure drop in a rectangular channel

The influence of minute amounts of additives on pressure drop is an interesting fundamental phenomenon, potentially with important practical applications. Change of the pressure drop in a quasi-two-dimensional channel flow using various additives is experimentally investigated. Tests were conducted for a wide range of concentrations（100 ppm-500 ppm） and Reynolds numbers（16 000-36 000） with two polymers and four rigid fibers used as additive. Maximum drag reduction of 22% was observed for xanthan gum. However, xanthan gum loses its drag-reducing property rapidly. It was also seen that drag reduction percentage of xanthan gum remains almost constant for different Reynolds numbers. Guar flour demonstrated good drag reduction property at high Reynolds numbers. Drag reduction of 17.5% at Re= 33 200 using 300 ppm solution was observed. However, at low Reynolds numbers guar flour will cause an increase in pressure drop. Fiber fillers（aspect ratio=21） have been tested as well. In contrast to polymers, they increased the drag for the range of examined concentrations and Reynolds numbers. Polyacrylonitrile fiber with three different aspect ratios（106, 200, 400） was also used, which showed an increase in pressure drop at low aspect ratios. Polyacrylonitrile fibers of larger lengths（6 mm） demonstrated minor drag-reducing effects（up to 3%）.