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• A unique silane coupling agent derivative-coated Zn anode with ion perselectivity was demonstrated. • This modified Zn anode greatly restrained side reaction with desolvation of [Zn(H 2 O)6]2−. • Versatile coating with tightly contact of nano particles and organic network contributed to full-cell long cycling life. Although zinc anodes are extensively adopted to meet aqueous energy storage, serious dendrite formation and side reaction resulting in inferior lifetime have hindered the application. In this work, a unique interfacial engineering is proposed by a self-assembled artificial layer tightly contact to the surface of zinc anode with Zn2+ permselectivity. Such artificial layer via a facile hydrolysis consists of nano inorganic particles well dispersed in organic network. The screening for the bound water of Zn2+ enables excellent anticorrosion during cycling and rest situation. Meanwhile, the modified zinc anode can reduce the Zn2+ nucleation barrier for uniform distribution, which is beneficial to dendrite suppression. Consequently, the modified zinc anodes in both symmetric and full cells exhibit prominently electrochemical reversibility. Specifically, with a cycling area capacity of 3.0 mAh cm−2 at 1.0 mA cm−2, the modified zinc anode can tolerate superior plating/stripping behavior over 1000 h. When it is coupled with vanadium pentoxide cathode, the performance advantage of the modified full-cell is still impressive and high-capacity retention of ∼84 % after 1200 cycles is achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • IM-BTO membrane is prepared by homogenization spin coating strategy. • Homogenization spin coating achieves porous structure and catalytic site exposure. • IM-BTO membrane has high water flux and photocatalytic self-cleaning ability. • The selective coefficient of IM-BTOM relative to BTOM can reach 2.66. Photocatalytic membrane technology is a promising technology for advanced water treatment. However, as a simple, fast, and stable spin coating method for photocatalytic membrane preparation, the spin coating solution often used in spin coating can cause the pore plugging on the membrane surface and encapsulates photocatalysts, which seriously affects the flux of the membrane and the exposure of the photocatalytic active site. Here, this work adopted a homogenization spin coating strategy, using polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) solution as the spin coating solution to prepare the highly exposed imprinted bismuth titanate porous photocatalytic membrane (IM-BTOM). Due to the same composition of PVDF solution as the PVDF substrate membrane, IM-BTOM basically retained the good porous structure of the membrane. The homogenization spin coating strategy not only endowed IM-BTOM with high flux (4545.45 L m-2h−1 bar−1), but also prevented the encapsulation of IM-BTO powder materials, fully exposing the photocatalytic active sites, thereby obtaining better photocatalytic ability and selectivity. The degradation rate of tetracycline with IM-BTOM was nearly three times that with the conventional cellulose acetate spin coating membrane. Meanwhile, the existence of imprinting cavities also endowed IM-BTOM with high selectivity for the target pollutant, with a selectivity coefficient of up to 2.66. This work provides a new idea for preparing high-efficient photocatalytic membrane by spin coating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Z-scheme silver phosphotungstate/polyimide photocatalyst was synthesized. • Self-assembly and in-situ solid-phase thermal polycondensation were utilized. • Keggin units act as the shuttle redox mediators for Z-scheme photocatalytic system. • The target photocatalysts exhibit enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity. • Oil-H 2 O mixed system can enhance the degradation process of AFB1. Silver phosphotungstate/polyimide (MAPI) photocatalyst was successfully synthesized by a multi-step strategy combining the self-assembly and in-situ solid-phase thermal polycondensation. The construction of MAPI photocatalysts and their photocatalytic activity were investigated. The polyimide (PI) in MAPI photocatalysts obtains the weakened π-π stacking structure and more dendritic crystalline structure. However, the POMs-π interactions, charge-transfer form in conjugated organic ligands-modified polyoxometalate (POMs) materials, and the close contact between main components are beneficial to the charge transfer in MAPI photocatalysts. The coordination interactions of Keggin anions and organic ligands allow the Keggin units released during the thermal treatment process to act as shuttle redox mediators for Z-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts. The changes related to the physicochemical and interfacial interactions of the components enable the MAPI photocatalysts to exhibit the enhanced photocatalytic activity. Pristine PI shows little activity for photocatalytic degradation of Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) under visible light (λ ≥ 420 nm) irradiation, but the rate constant k of 5-MAPI was 7.34 and 4.46 times than that of pristine AgPW and P25, respectively. The presence of H 2 O and the transfer behavior of AFB1 in the oil-H 2 O mixed system significantly promoted the photocatalytic degradation efficiency of AFB1 in peanut oil. Z-scheme charge transfer path and the photocatalytic degradation pathway of AFB1 were also proposed. Combined with the density functional theory (DFT) calculation results, AFB1 will be firstly degraded by the ·OH-induced cycloaddition reaction at the C19 = C20 of furan ring. Subsequently, methoxy (C23-O22), furan ring, lactone ring and carbonyl group (C9 = O10) are degraded in sequence. This work can provide some interesting insights into the construction of polymer/insoluble POMs photocatalysts and the photocatalytic degradation of exogenous harmful substances in vegetable oil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Organic-inorganic Ov-PVO/G heterostructures are prepared via a ball-milling approach. • The heterostructures contain expanded interlayer spacing, oxygen vacancy and heterointerface. • Freestanding Ov-PVO/G heterostructure cathodes with high mass-loading are fabricated. • The three-in-one Ov-PVO/G heterostructures exhibit accelerated reaction kinetics. • The freestanding Ov-PVO/G heterostructure cathodes for AZIBs deliver high areal capacity. Aqueous Zn-ion batteries (AZIBs) have great potential in large-scale energy storage, however, developing suitable cathodes with high energy/power densities remains highly challenging. Herein, a unique organic-inorganic heterostructures (denoted as O v -PVO/G) of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) intercalated V 2 O 5 nanocrystals anchored on few-layer graphene by a simple and scalable ball-milling approach are demonstrated for high areal-capacity AZIBs cathodes, in which, adjusted interlayer spacing, abundant oxygen vacancies and robust heterointerfaces can be simultaneously constructed. Moreover, the feature of being well dispersed in different polar solvents (H 2 O, NMP, etc.) enable facile incorporation of the O v -PVO/G heterostructures into conductive networks of single-walled carbon nanotubes to fabricate freestanding composite cathodes. Electrochemical measurement and first-principles calculations indicate that such "Three-in-One" heterostructure can significantly enhance Zn2+ adsorption/desorption, electrical conductivity and charge transfer due to strong synergy, thereby exhibiting high-capacity and accelerated reaction kinetics during cycling. Specifically, at a practical mass loading of 12.0 mg/cm2, the freestanding O v -PVO/G cathodes show a high areal-capacity of 6.1 mAh/cm2 at 2.4 mA/cm2 and works stable with an area-capacity of 1.63 mAh/cm2 at 120 mA/cm2 after 500 cycles. More importantly, flexible soft-packaged AZIBs based on 3×3 cm2 high mass-loading O v -PVO/G cathodes deliver record-high and stable electric energy beyond 21.5 mAh at different bending states. This work paves a more promising way to practical application of high-performance AZIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The Al 2 O 3 /C nanofiber skeleton enhanced electron and thermal transport. • The OSi enhanced LiPSs suppression and electrolyte retention. • PE‖Al 2 O 3 /C@OSi assembled cell showed excellent safety under thermal gradient. • PE‖Al 2 O 3 /C@OSi assembled cell showed high-performance under lean-electrolyte. The development of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries is dogged not only by severe limitations in cycling and rate performances arising from the shuttle effect of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) but also severe degradation under harsh evaluation conditions of high sulfur loading, lean-electrolyte, and prominent thermal gradient. To achieve high performance and safety in Li-S batteries, a flexible and multifunctional integrated interlayer consisting of dual-functional alumina/carbon (Al 2 O 3 /C) nanofiber skeleton and organosilicon (OSi) filler is fabricated. Electrically and thermally conductive nanofibers are continuous and interlaced, enhancing the reutilization of LiPSs and the homogenization of temperature gradient through constructed dual-conductive networks. The interval-filled OSi helps in the diffusion of LiPSs and the absorption and retention of electrolytes, providing significant support to stabilize the Li-S batteries for long-term cycling. As a result, considerable enhancements in cycle stability and rate performance either under a high sulfur loading of ∼5.5 mg cm-2, low electrolyte/sulfur (E/S) rate of 4 μL mg-1, or artificial temperature gradients are achieved for a typical sulfur/carbon black cathode simply by incorporating multifunctional Al 2 O 3 /C@OSi interlayer. The new design and configuration of the interlayer may practically be used in high-energy applications since it can effectively address severe limitations of the current Li-S batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • E–TiO 2 @rGO with OVs were prepared through crystal defect engineering. • Mixed crystal and OVs enhanced electron-hole pairs separation efficiency. • E–TiO 2 @rGO improved 2,4,6-TCP dichlorination process and degradation efficiency. • The toxicity of 2,4,6-TCP and its intermediates was evaluated via ECOSAR and DFT. Chlorophenolic pollutants pose serious threats to the aquatic ecosystem. Photocatalysis technology has broad prospects for decontamination. In this work, MXene-derived TiO 2 nanocomposites with mixed-crystal characteristics and oxygen vacancies (OVs) (E–TiO 2 @rGO) were successfully synthesized by atmosphere modulation. Compared with commercial TiO 2 and N 2 –TiO 2 @rGO (anatase phase), the rate constants of E–TiO 2 @rGO (0.06874 min−1) over 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (2,4,6-TCP) degradation increased 4 and 1.3 times, respectively. The enhanced photocatalytic performance was attributed to the co-existence of anatase and rutile phases. On the one hand, the mixed-crystal phase narrowed the band gap, broadening the light absorption range. On the other hand, it induced the generation of OVs, which has been demonstrated by DFT calculation. The presence of OVs improved the adsorption and activation of O 2 and H 2 O molecules, beneficial for the formation of active free radicals. In addition, the incorporation of rGO promoted the separation of electron-hole pairs. The Gibbs free energy of 2,4,6-TCP degradation revealed that the OVs and mixed-crystal could reduce the energy barrier of the rate-determining step, thereby boosting the dichlorination efficiency of 2,4,6-TCP. The superoxide free radical (O 2 −) was determined as the dominant active species. Finally, a possible mechanism of 2,4,6-TCP degradation with E–TiO 2 @rGO was clarified clearly. The proposed mixed-crystal defect engineering represents a novel strategy in the design and synthesis of photocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Zincophilic layer were constructed on Zn anode via simple soaking strategy. • The artificial layer can regulate Zn2+ flux as verified by COMSOL simulation. • The decorated Zn anode displays ultralong lifespan over 4800 h. • Dendrite-free Zn anode were achieved with high CPC of 6900 mAh cm−2. Aqueous zinc-ion batteries have been highly valued for their high safety and environmental friendliness. However, the notorious Zn dendrite growth derived from uneven distribution of electric fields and side reaction at the electrolyte–anode interface critically limited the lifespan of aqueous zinc-ion batteries. Herein, uniform zinc deposition were achieved by construction of interface film with prussian blue 3D open framework, which provide highly zincophilic channel with well-regulated Zn2+ flow tailored on Zn anode surface. The decorated Zn electrode displayed an ultralong plating/stripping cycling life over 4800 h with an ultralow voltage hysteresis (30 mV) at current density of 0.25 mA cm−2. Moreover, the modified Zn||Cu half cell delivers high average coulombic efficiency up to 99.2% for more than 1000 cycles at 0.5 mA cm−2. When coupled with MnO 2 cathode, the full cells demonstrated significantly improved cycling stability with capacity retention of 85.1% after 200 cycles. The facile construction strategy of interface layer with well-regulated Zn2+ flow developed in this work provided promising perspective for the design of long term aqueous Zn battery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]