Achieving Long-Cycle-Life Zinc-Ion Batteries through a Zincophilic Prussian Blue Analogue Interphase.

The practical application of rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) has been severely hindered by detrimental dendrite growth, uncontrollable hydrogen evolution, and unfavorable side reactions occurring at the Zn metal anode. Here, we applied a Prussian blue analogue (PBA) material K2Zn3(Fe(CN)6)2 as an artificial solid electrolyte interphase (SEI), by which the plentiful -C≡N- ligands at the surface and the large channels in the open framework structure can operate as a highly zincophilic moderator and ion sieve, inducing fast and uniform nucleation and deposition of Zn. Additionally, the dense interface effectively prevents water molecules from approaching the Zn surface, thereby inhibiting the hydrogen-evolution-resultant side reactions and corrosion. The highly reversible Zn plating/stripping is evidenced by an elevated Coulombic efficiency of 99.87% over 600 cycles in a Zn/Cu cell and a prolonged lifetime of 860 h at 5 mA cm-2, 2 mAh cm-2 in a Zn/Zn symmetric cell. Furthermore, the PBA-coated Zn anode ensures the excellent rate and cycling performance of an α-MnO2/Zn full cell. This work provides a simple and effective solution for the improvement of the Zn anode, advancing the commercialization of aqueous ZIBs.

Surfactant Additives Containing Hydrophobic Fluorocarbon Chains and Hydrophilic Sulfonate Anion for Highly Reversible Zn Anode.

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) show enormous potential as a large-scale energy storage technique. However, the growth of Zn dendrites and serious side reactions occurring at the Zn anode hinder the practical application of AZIBs. For the first time, we reported a fluorine-containing surfactant, i.e., potassium perfluoro-1-butanesulfonate (PPFBS), as an additive to the 2 M ZnSO4 electrolyte. Benefitting from its hydrophilic sulfonate anion and hydrophobic long fluorocarbon chain, PPFBS can promote the uniform distribution of Zn2+ flux at the anode/electrolyte interface, allowing the Zn/Zn cell to cycle for 2200 h. Furthermore, PPFBS could inhibit side reactions due to the existence of the perfluorobutyl sulfonate (C4F9SO3-) adsorption layer and the presence of C4F9SO3- in the solvation structure of Zn2+. The former can reduce the amount of H2O molecules and SO42- in contact with the Zn anode and C4F9SO3- entering the Zn2+-solvation structure by replacing SO42-. The Zn/Cu cell exhibits a superior average CE of 99.47% over 500 cycles. When coupled with the V2O5 cathode, the full cell shows impressive cycle stability. This work provides a simple, effective, and economical solution to the common issues of the Zn anode.

A critical review on the interactions of microplastics with heavy metals: Mechanism and their combined effect on organisms and humans.

Although individual toxicity of microplastics (MPs) to organism has been widely studied, limited knowledge is available on the interactions between heavy metals and MPs, as well as potential biological impacts from their combinations. The interaction between MPs and heavy metals may alter their environmental behaviors, bioavailability and potential toxicity, leading to ecological risks. In this paper, an overview of different sources of heavy metals on MPs is provided. Then the recent achievements in adsorption isotherms, adsorption kinetics and interaction mechanism between MPs and heavy metals are discussed. Besides, the factors that influence the adsorption of heavy metals on MPs such as polymer properties, chemical properties of heavy metals, and other environmental factors are also considered. Furthermore, potential combined toxic effects from MPs and heavy metals on organisms and human health are further summarized.

Mass-Producible, Quasi-Zero-Strain, Lattice-Water-Rich Inorganic Open-Frameworks for Ultrafast-Charging and Long-Cycling Zinc-Ion Batteries.

Low-cost and high-safety aqueous Zn-ion batteries are an exceptionally compelling technology for grid-scale energy storage. However, their development has been plagued by the lack of stable cathode materials allowing fast Zn2+ -ion insertion and scalable synthesis. Here, a lattice-water-rich, inorganic-open-framework (IOF) phosphovanadate cathode, which is mass-producible and delivers high capacity (228 mAh g-1 ) and energy density (193.8 Wh kg-1 or 513 Wh L-1 ), is reported. The abundant lattice waters functioning as a "charge shield" enable a low Zn2+ -migration energy barrier, (0.66 eV) even close to that of Li+ within LiFePO4 . This fast intrinsic ion-diffusion kinetics, together with nanostructure effect, allow the achievements of ultrafast charging (71% state of charge in 1.9 min) and an ultrahigh power density (7200 W kg-1 at 107 Wh kg-1 ). Equally important, the IOF exhibits a quasi-zero-strain feature (<1% lattice change upon (de)zincation), which ensures ultrahigh cycling durability (3000 cycles) and Coulombic efficiencies of 100%. The cell-level energy and power densities reach ≈90 Wh kg-1 and ≈3320 W kg-1 , far surpassing commercial lead-acid, Ni-Cd, and Ni-MH batteries. Lattice-water-rich IOFs may open up new opportunities for exploring stable and fast-charging Zn-ion batteries.

Approaching the voltage and energy density limits of potassium-selenium battery chemistry in a concentrated ether-based electrolyte.

Potassium-selenium (K-Se) batteries offer fairly high theoretical voltage (∼1.88 V) and energy density (∼1275 W h kgSe -1). However, in practice, their operation voltage is so far limited to ∼1.4 V, resulting in insufficient energy utilization and mechanistic understanding. Here, it is demonstrated for the first time that K-Se batteries operating in concentrated ether-based electrolytes follow distinctive reaction pathways involving reversible stepwise conversion reactions from Se to K2Se x (x = 5, 3, 2, 1). The presence of redox intermediates K2Se5 at ∼2.3 V and K2Se3 at ∼2.1 V, in contrast with previous reports, enables record-high average discharge plateau voltage (1.85 V) and energy density (998 W h kgSe -1 or 502 W h kgK2Se -1), both approaching the theoretical limits and surpassing those of previously reported Na/K/Al-Se batteries. Moreover, experimental analysis and first-principles calculations reveal that the effective suppression of detrimental polyselenide dissolution/shuttling in concentrated electrolytes, together with high electron conductibility of Se/K2Se x , enables fast reaction kinetics, efficient utilization of Se, and long-term cyclability of up to 350 cycles, which are impracticable in either K-S counterparts or K-Se batteries with low/moderate-concentration electrolytes. This work may pave the way for mechanistic understanding and full energy utilization of K-Se battery chemistry.

Safe, Low-Cost, Fast-Kinetics and Low-Strain Inorganic-Open-Framework Anode for Potassium-Ion Batteries.

A key challenge for potassium-ion batteries is to explore low-cost electrode materials that allow fast and reversible insertion of large-ionic-size K+ . Here, we report an inorganic-open-framework anode (KTiOPO4 ), which achieves a reversible capacity of up to 102 mAh g-1 (307 mAh cm-3 ), flat voltage plateaus at a safe average potential of 0.82 V (vs. K/K+ ), a long lifespan of over 200 cycles, and K+ -transport kinetics ≈10 times faster than those of Na-superionic conductors. Combined experimental analysis and first-principles calculations reveal a charge storage mechanism involving biphasic and solid solution reactions and a cell volume change (9.5 %) even smaller than that for Li+ -insertion into graphite (≈10 %). KTiOPO4 exhibits quasi-3D lattice expansion on K+ intercalation, enabling the disintegration of small lattice strain and thus high structural stability. The inorganic open-frameworks may open a new avenue for exploring low-cost, stable and fast-kinetic battery chemistry.