Molecular Engineering of Methylated Sulfone-Based Covalent Organic Frameworks for Back-Reaction Inhibited Photocatalytic Overall Water Splitting.

Solar-to-hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2) conversion via photocatalytic overall water splitting (OWS) holds great promise for a sustainable fuel economy, but has been challenged by the backward O2 reduction reaction (ORR) with favored proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) dynamics. Here, we report that molecular engineering by methylation inhibits the backward ORR of molecular photocatalysts and enables efficient OWS process. As demonstrated by a benchmark sulfone-based covalent organic framework (COF) photocatalyst, the precise methylation of its O2 adsorption sites effectively blocks electron transfer and increases the barrier for hydrogen intermediate desorption that cooperatively obstructs the PCET process of ORR. Methylation also repels electrons to the neighboring photocatalytic sulfone group that promotes the forward H2 evolution. The resultant DS-COF achieves an impressive inhibition of about 70 % of the backward reaction and a three-fold enhancement of the OWS performance with a H2 evolution rate of 124.7 µmol h-1 g-1, ranking among the highest reported for organic-based photocatalysts. This work provides insights for engineering photocatalysts at the molecular level for efficient solar-to-fuel conversion.

Production of high-energy 6-Ah-level Li | |LiNi0.83Co0.11Mn0.06O2 multi-layer pouch cells via negative electrode protective layer coating strategy.

Stable lithium metal negative electrodes are desirable to produce high-energy batteries. However, when practical testing conditions are applied, lithium metal is unstable during battery cycling. Here, we propose poly(2-hydroxyethyl acrylate-co-sodium benzenesulfonate) (PHS) as negative electrode protective layer. The PHS contains soft poly (2-hydroxyethyl acrylate) and poly(sodium p-styrene sulfonate), which improve electrode flexibility, connection with the Cu current collector and transport of Li ions. Transmission electron cryomicroscopy measurements reveal that PHS induces the formation of a solid electrolyte interphase with a fluorinated rigid and crystalline internal structure. Furthermore, theoretical calculations suggest that the -SO3- group of poly(sodium p-styrene sulfonate) promotes Li-ion motion towards interchain migration through cation-dipole interaction, thus, enabling uniform Li-ion diffusion. Electrochemical measurements of Li | |PHS-coated-Cu coin cells demonstrate an average Coulombic efficiency of 99.46% at 1 mA/cm2, 6 mAh/cm2 and 25 °C. Moreover, when the PHS-coated Li metal negative electrode is paired with a high-areal-capacity LiNi0.83Co0.11Mn0.06O2-based positive electrode in multi-layer pouch cell configuration, the battery delivers an initial capacity of 6.86 Ah (corresponding to a specific energy of 489.7 Wh/kg) and, a 91.1% discharge capacity retention after 150 cycles at 2.5 mA/cm2, 25 °C and 172 kPa.