Nanoengineering of Porous 2D Structures with Tunable Fluid Transport Behavior for Exceptional H2O2 Electrosynthesis.

Precision nanoengineering of porous two-dimensional structures has emerged as a promising avenue for finely tuning catalytic reactions. However, understanding the pore-structure-dependent catalytic performance remains challenging, given the lack of comprehensive guidelines, appropriate material models, and precise synthesis strategies. Here, we propose the optimization of two-dimensional carbon materials through the utilization of mesopores with 5-10 nm diameter to facilitate fluid acceleration, guided by finite element simulations. As proof of concept, the optimized mesoporous carbon nanosheet sample exhibited exceptional electrocatalytic performance, demonstrating high selectivity (>95%) and a notable diffusion-limiting disk current density of -3.1 mA cm-2 for H2O2 production. Impressively, the electrolysis process in the flow cell achieved a production rate of 14.39 mol gcatalyst-1 h-1 to yield a medical-grade disinfectant-worthy H2O2 solution. Our pore engineering research focuses on modulating oxygen reduction reaction activity and selectivity by affecting local fluid transport behavior, providing insights into the mesoscale catalytic mechanism.

Self-Assembly Monolayer Inspired Stable Artificial Solid Electrolyte Interphase Design for Next-Generation Lithium Metal Batteries.

Lithium metal is widely regarded as the "ultimate" anode for energy-dense Li batteries, but its high reactivity and delicate interface make it prone to dendrite formation, limiting its practical use. Inspired by self-assembled monolayers on metal surfaces, we propose a facile yet effective strategy to stabilize Li metal anodes by creating an artificial solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). Our method involves dip-coating Li metal in MPDMS to create an SEI layer that is rich in inorganic components, allowing uniform Li plating/stripping under a low overpotential over 500 cycles in carbonate electrolytes. In comparison, pristine Li metal shows a rapid increase in overpotential after merely 300 cycles, leading to failure soon after. Molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate that this uniform artificial SEI suppresses Li dendrite formation. We further demonstrated its enhanced stability pairing with LiFePO4 and LiNi1-x-yCoxMnyO2 cathodes, highlighting the proposed strategy as a promising solution for practical Li metal batteries.

Ultrafast materials synthesis and manufacturing techniques for emerging energy and environmental applications.

Energy and environmental issues have attracted increasing attention globally, where sustainability and low-carbon emissions are seriously considered and widely accepted by government officials. In response to this situation, the development of renewable energy and environmental technologies is urgently needed to complement the usage of traditional fossil fuels. While a big part of advancement in these technologies relies on materials innovations, new materials discovery is limited by sluggish conventional materials synthesis methods, greatly hindering the advancement of related technologies. To address this issue, this review introduces and comprehensively summarizes emerging ultrafast materials synthesis methods that could synthesize materials in times as short as nanoseconds, significantly improving research efficiency. We discuss the unique advantages of these methods, followed by how they benefit individual applications for renewable energy and the environment. We also highlight the scalability of ultrafast manufacturing towards their potential industrial utilization. Finally, we provide our perspectives on challenges and opportunities for the future development of ultrafast synthesis and manufacturing technologies. We anticipate that fertile opportunities exist not only for energy and the environment but also for many other applications.