Advances in the structure design of substrate materials for zinc anode of aqueous zinc ion batteries

Aqueous zinc ion batteries(AZIBs) demonstrate tremendous competitiveness and application prospects because of their abundant resources,low cost, high safety, and environmental friendliness. Although the advanced electrochemical energy storage systems based on zinc ion batteries have been greatly developed, many severe problems associated with Zn anode impede its practical application, such as the dendrite formation,hydrogen evolution, corrosion and passivation phenomenon. To address these drawbacks, electrolytes, separators, zinc alloys, interfacial modification and structural design of Zn anode have been employed at present by scientists. Among them, the structural design for zinc anode is relatively mature, which is generally believed to enhance the electroactive surface area of zinc anode, reduce local current density, and promote the uniform distribution of zinc ions on the surface of anode. In order to explore new research directions, it is crucial to systematically summarize the structural design of anode materials. Herein, this review focuses on the challenges in Zn anode, modification strategies and the three-dimensional(3D) structure design of substrate materials for Zn anode including carbon substrate materials, metal substrate materials and other substrate materials. Finally, future directions and perspectives about the Zn anode are presented for developing high-performance AZIBs.

Role of in-situ formed free carbon on electromagnetic absorption properties of polymer-derived SiC ceramics

In order to enhance dielectric properties of polymer-derived SiC ceramics,a novel single-source-precursor was synthesized by the reaction of an allylhydrido polycarbosilane(AHPCS)and divinyl benzene(DVB)to form carbon-rich SiC.As expected,the free carbon contents of resultant SiC ceramics annealed at 1600℃are significantly enhanced from 6.62 wt%to 44.67 wt%.After annealing at 900-1600℃,the obtained carbon-rich SiC ceramics undergo phase separation from amorphous to crystalline feature where superfine SiC nanocrystals and turbostratic carbon networks are dispersed in an amorphous SiC(O)matrix.The dielectric properties and electromagnetic(EM)absorption performance of as-synthesized carbon-rich SiC ceramics are significantly improved by increasing the structural order and content of free carbon.For the 1600℃ ceramics mixed with paraffin wax,the minimum reflection coefficient(RCmin)reaches-56.8 dB at 15.2 GHz with the thickness of 1.51 mm and a relatively broad effective bandwidth(the bandwidth of RC values lower than-10 dB)of 4.43 GHz,indicating the excellent EM absorption performance.The carbon-rich SiC ceramics have to be considered as harsh environmental EM absorbers with excellent chemical stability,high temperature,and oxidation and corrosion resistance.

Single-source-precursor derived Sioc ceramics with in-situ formed CNTs and core-shell structured CoSi@C nanoparticles towards excellent electromagnetic wave absorption properties

In this work,novel carbon nanotube(CNT)/CoSi/SiOC nanocomposite ceramics with in-situ formed multi-walled CNTs and core-shell structured CoSi@C nanoparticles were successfully prepared via a single-source-precursor derived ceramic approach.Ppolymericprecursor characterization as well as phase evolution,microstructure,and electromagnetic wave(EMW)absorption properties of the ceramics were investigated in detail.The results show that the in-situ formed CNTs and magnetic CoSi@C nanoparticles provide a synergistic effect on both dielectric loss(tand:)and magnetic loss,leading to outstanding EMW absorption properties of the ceramics annealed at only 1100 C.(i)For the Co feeding of 6.25 wt%,the minimum reflection loss(RLmin)is-53.1 dB,and the effective absorption bandwidth(EAB)is 4.96 GHz(7.12-12.08 GHz)with a ceramic-paraffin hybrid sample thickness of 3.10 mm,achieving full X-band coverage;(i)for the Co feeding of 9.09 wt%,the RLmin value of-66.4 dB and the EAB value of 3.04 GHz(8.40-11.44 GHz)were achieved with a thickness of only 2.27 mm.Therefore,the present CNT/CoSi/SiOC nanocomposite ceramics have potential applications for thin,lightweight,and efficient EMW absorption in harsh environments.

Hard and tough novel high-pressure γ-Si_(3)N_(4)/Hf_(3)N_(4) ceramic nanocomposites

Cubic silicon nitride(-Si_(3)N_(4))is superhard and one of the hardest materials after diamond and cubic boron nitride(cBN),but has higher thermal stability in an oxidizing environment than diamond,making it a competitive candidate for technological applications in harsh conditions(e.g.,drill head and abrasives).Here,we report the high-pressure synthesis and characterization of the structural and mechanical properties of a γ-Si_(3)N_(4)/Hf_(3)N_(4) ceramic nanocomposite derived from single-phase amorphous silicon(Si)-hafnium(Hf)-nitrogen(N)precursor.The synthesis of the-Si_(3)N_(4)/Hf_(3)N_(4) nanocomposite is performed at~20 GPa and ca.1500 ℃ in a large volume multi anvil press.The structural evolution of the amorphous precursor and its crystallization to-Si_(3)N_(4)/Hf_(3)N_(4) nanocomposites under high pressures is assessed by the in situ synchrotron energy-dispersive X-ray diffraction(ED-XRD)measurements at~19.5 GPa in the temperature range of ca.1000-1900℃.The fracture toughness(K_(IC))of the two-phase nanocomposite amounts~6/6.9 MPa·m^(1/2) and is about 2 times that of single-phaseγ-Si_(3)N_(4),while its hardness of ca.30 GPa remains high.This work provides a reliable and feasible route for the synthesis of advanced hard and tough-Si_(3)N_(4)-based nanocomposites with excellent thermal stabililty.

ZrC-ZrB_2-SiC ceramic nanocomposites derived from a novel single-source precursor with high ceramic yield

For the first time, ZrC-ZrB_2-SiC ceramic nanocomposites were successfully prepared by a single-source-precursor route, with allylhydridopolycarbosilane(AHPCS),triethylamine borane(TEAB),and bis(cyclopentadienyl) zirconium dichloride(Cp_2 ZrCl_2) as starting materials. The polymer-to-ceramic transformation and thermal behavior of obtained single-source precursor were characterized by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FT-IR) and thermal gravimetric analysis(TGA). The results show that the precursor possesses a high ceramic yield about 85% at 1000 ℃.The phase composition and microstructure of formed ZrC-ZrB_2-SiC ceramics were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction(XRD) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy(HRTEM).Meanwhile, the weight loss and chemical composition of the resultant ZrC-ZrB_2-SiC nanocomposites were investigated after annealing at high temperature up to 1800 ℃. High temperature behavior with respect to decomposition as well as crystallization shows a promising high temperature stability of the formed ZrC-ZrB_2-SiC nanocomposites.

Ultra-light, high flexible and efficient CNTs/Ti3C2-sodium alginate foam for electromagnetic absorption application

Ultra-light carboxylic functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes(CNTs-COOH) and Ti3C2 MXene hybrids modified sodium alginate(CNTs/Ti3C2-SA) based composite foams were prepared through ice-templated freeze-drying method. The microstructure of the synthesized CNTs/Ti3C2 hybrids and CNTs/Ti3C2-SA foams is characterized by the presence of CNTs inserted between MXene layers which prevents their restacking. The resultant CNTs/Ti3C2 hybrids exhibit a unique sandwich-like hierarchical structure. Scanning electron microscopy(SEM) images show that the CNTs/Ti3C2-SA foam exhibits a heterogeneous anisotropic microstructure and CNTs/Ti3C2 hybrids are homogeneously dispersed in the skeleton of the porous foam. In case that the content of the hybrids amounts 40 mg/cm^3, the CNTs/Ti3C2-SA foam possesses excellent electromagnetic(EM) absorption performance with a minimum reflection coefficient(RCmin) as low as-40.0 dB. In case of a sample thickness of 3.95 mm, the RCminreaches-24.4 dB and the effective absorption bandwidth covers the whole X band from 8.2 to 12.4 GHz. A control test shows that, with the same absorbent content, the CNTs/Ti3C2-SA foam exhibits a far better EM performance than that of CNT-free Ti3C2-SA foam.

Single-source-precursor synthesis of porous W-containing SiC-based nanocomposites as hydrogen evolution reaction electrocatalysts

In this paper,W-containing SiC-based ceramic nanocomposites were successfully prepared by a polymer-derived ceramic approach using allylhydridopolycarbosilane(AHPCS)as a SiC source,WC16 as a tungsten source,polystyrene(PS)as a pore forming agent as well as divinyl benzene(DVB)as a carbon rich source.High-temperature phase behavior of the W-containing SiC-based ceramics after heat treatment was studied,showing that excessive DVB content in the feed will inhibit the crystallinity of W-containing nanoparticles in the final ceramic nanocomposites.The high specific surface area(SSA)of 169.4-276.9 m^(2)/g can be maintained even at high temperature in the range of 1400-1500℃,due to the carbothermal reaction which usually occurs between 1300 and 1400℃.All prepared W-containing SiC-based nanocomposites reveal electrocatalytic activity for the hydrogen evolution reaction(HER).In detail,compared with reversible hydrogen electrode(RHE),the ceramic sample PWA-2-1300 after heat treatment at 1300℃ has the smallest overpotential of 286 mV when the current density is 10 mA·cm^(-2) in acid medium,indicating the promising perspective in the water splitting field.

Boron-modified perhydropolysilazane towards facile synthesis of amorphous SiBN ceramic with excellent thermal stability

SiBN ceramics are widely considered to be the most promising material for microwavetransparent applications in harsh environments owing to its excellent thermal stability and low dielectric constant.This work focuses on the synthesis and ceramization of single-source precursors for the preparation of SiBN ceramics as well as the investigation of the corresponding microstructural evolution at high temperatures including molecular dynamic simulations.Carbon-and chlorine-free perhydropolysilazanes were reacted with borane dimethyl sulfide complex at different molar ratios to synthesize single-source precursors,which were subsequently pyrolyzed and annealed under N2 atmosphere(without ammonolysis)to prepare SiBN ceramics at 1100,1200,and 1300℃with high ceramic yield in contrast to previously widely-used ammonolysis synthesis process.The obtained amorphous SiBN ceramics were shown to have remarkably improved thermal stability and oxidation resistance compared to amorphous silicon nitride.Particularly,the experimental results have been combined with molecular dynamics simulation to further study the amorphous structure of SiBN and the atomic-scale diffusion behavior of Si,B,and N at 1300℃.Incorporation of boron into the Si–N network is found to suppress the crystallization of the formed amorphous silicon nitride and hence improves its thermal stability in N2 atmosphere.