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This study cross-culturally adapted and psychometrically validated a simplified Chinese version of the Exercise-Induced Leg Pain Questionnaire (SC-EILP) for evaluating the severity of symptoms and sports ability among individuals with exercise-induced leg pain.One hundred and fourteen participants with exercise-induced leg pain were included. To assess reliability, we calculated Cronbach's α and intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). Construct validity was analysed by assessing the correlations between SC-EILP and visual analogue scale (VAS), University of California Los Angeles activity score (UCLA), and short form (36) health survey (SF-36). Factorial validity was used to establish the factor structure of the questionnaire.The EILP was cross-culturally well-adapted and translated into simplified Chinese. Each item was appropriately correlated with the total items. SC-EILP had nearly good reliability [Cronbach'sSC-EILP showed excellent acceptability, internal consistency, reliability, and construct validity, and could be recommended for individuals in Mainland China.This study translated and cross-culturally adapted Exercise-Induced Leg Pain Questionnaire into a Simplified Chinese version, and evaluated its reliability and validity in individuals with exercise-induced leg pain.Moderate to substantial correlations between the Simplified Chinese version of the Exercise-Induced Leg Pain Questionnaire and VAS, UCLA, as well as physical subscales of SF-36 were observed.Exploratory factor analysis revealed that the 3-factor loading explained 74.736% of the total variance [Kaiser–Mayer–Olkin (KMO) = 0.672

Solid-state lithium-metal (Li

The modern lithium-ion battery (LIB) configuration was enabled by the “magic chemistry” between ethylene carbonate (EC) and graphitic carbon anode. Despite the constant changes of cathode chemistries with improved energy densities, EC-graphite combination remained static during the last three decades. While the interphase generated by EC protects the fragile graphitic structure, the intrinsic disadvantages of EC (high viscosity, high melting point, excessive interphase growth) lead to mediocre power density and poor performances of LIB at sub-zero temperatures, where lithium depositions form upon charging. Such performance compromises arise from the fundamental dilemma between requiring effective interphase protection and high impedance from excessive growth of interphase. In this work, we designed and synthesized a “double EC” molecule as electrolyte additive to resolve the above dilemma. Erythritol bis(carbonate) (EBC) possesses lower LUMO energy level than EC and hence tends to decompose prior to EC reduction, but its weak solvation toward Li+ restricts the extent of its reduction, thus minimizing the interphase thickness and the corresponding impedances. Electrolytes containing EBC enables both the charging and discharging of ampere-size LIB pouch cells at sub-zero temperatures from 0 to -20℃, demonstrating that the key approach to improve low temperature performances lies in how to tailor interphasial chemistry rather than the bulk electrolyte composition.

Different strategies of SEI engineering such as modification, additive application, and artificial SEI for electrolyte are summarized. Characterization techniques for SEI studies using X-ray, neutron, and electron as probing beams are discussed.

Objective To explore the advantages of urinary matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7) in evaluating renal tubular injury in minimal change disease (MCD) and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) patients compared with urinary cystatin C (CysC) and retinol-binding protein (RBP). Methods Serum and urine samples were collected from 20 healthy volunteers, and 40 MCD and 20 FSGS patients. Serum and urinary MMP-7 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Urinary total protein, CysC and RBP levels were measured by automatic specific protein analyzer and compared with urinary creatinine level for calibration. The renal tissue serial sections were stained by MMP-7 immunohistochemistry and periodic acid–Schiff. Results Under light microscopy, MMP-7 granular weak positive expression was showed sporadically in the cytoplasm of a few renal tubular epithelial cells without obvious morphological changes in MCD patients, and MMP-7-positive expression was observed in the cytoplasm of some renal tubular epithelial cells in FSGS patients. There was no significant difference in serum MMP-7 level among the three groups. Compared with the control group, the urinary MMP-7 level in MCD patients was higher, but urinary CysC and RBP levels were not increased significantly. Compared with the control group and MCD patients, urinary MMP-7, CysC and RBP levels in FSGS patients were upregulated significantly. Conclusions Urinary MMP-7 could not only evaluate the mild renal tubular epithelial cells injury in MCD patients with massive proteinuria, but also evaluate the continuous renal tubular epithelial cells injury in FSGS patients.

The Zn3V3O8 was synthesized by solvothermal method combined with heat treatment using Zn(NO3)3 · 6H2O and NH4VO3 as raw materials. The Zn3V3O8 was doped by Co2+ to form Zn2.88Co0.12V3O8. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy techniques. Electrochemical tests showed that the initial discharge specific capacity for Zn2.88Co0.12V3O8 was 640.4 mAh·g−1 when the current density was 100 mA·g−1, which was higher than that of pure Zn3V3O8 (563.5 mAh · g−1). After 80 cycles, the discharge specific capacity of Zn2.88Co0.12V3O8 could maintain at 652.2 mAh · g−1, which was higher than that of pure Zn3V3O8 (566.8 mAh·g−1) under same condition. The Zn2.88Co0.12V3O8 owned better rate performances than those of pure Zn3V3O8 also. The related modification mechanisms were discussed in this paper

The rechargeability of aqueous zinc metal batteries is plagued by parasitic reactions of the zinc metal anode and detrimental morphologies such as dendritic or dead zinc. To improve the zinc metal reversibility, hereby we report a new solution structure of aqueous electrolyte with hydroxyl-ion scavengers and hydrophobicity localized in solvent clusters. We show that although hydrophobicity sounds counterintuitive for an aqueous system, hydrophilic pockets may be encapsulated inside a hydrophobic outer layer, and a hydrophobic anode-electrolyte interface can be generated through the addition of a cation-philic, strongly anion-phobic, and OH

Background Glomerulopathy with fibronectin deposits (GFND) is a rare autosomal dominant genetic disorder, and proteinuria and hematuria are the most common clinical manifestations. The pathogenesis of this disease is primarily related to mutation of the fibronectin 1 gene. Unfortunately, without specific treatment, the prognosis remains poor. Here we present a case report that investigates the clinical characteristics, renal pathology, and gene testing of childhood GFND. Case presentation A two-year-old child was brought to our hospital for “persistent hematuria for 1 year and 10 months.” The disease onset was at the age of 4 months, with persistent microscopic hematuria accompanied by intermittent gross hematuria, occasionally with proteinuria, and without hypertension or renal failure. The chief complaint was intermittent gross hematuria, without massive proteinuria, hypertension, or renal failure. Family history: The child’s mother had microscopic hematuria, his maternal aunt had nephrotic syndrome due to focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, and his maternal grandmother had end-stage renal disease. No significant pathological changes were found in the renal pathological biopsy of the child under a light microscope. Under the electron microscope, the basement membrane was found to be of uneven thickness, ranging from 150 to 400 nm. The stratum compactum of the basement membrane was thickened, with a small part showing tear-like and cobweb-like morphology. No electron-dense deposits were found. The renal tubular epithelial cells were vacuolated, and there were no unique pathological changes in the renal interstitium. Immunofluorescence showed that IgG, IgM, IgA, C3, and C1q were all negative. Alport syndrome was preliminarily considered. However, exome sequencing revealed a mutated site in the fibronectin 1 gene. The child’s mother was the carrier of the pathogenic gene and the final diagnosis was GFND. Conclusions Fibronectin deposition is a typical pathological change in GFND, and the disease progresses slowly to end-stage renal disease. There is no specific treatment so far, and the prognosis is poor. The early onset of childhood patients may not show typical renal pathological changes, but only changes in the thickness of basement membrane, etc. Genome sequencing technology may helpful for the early diagnosis of GFND.

An investigation of alternative lithium salts, lithium tetrafluoroborate (LiBF4), lithium difluoro(oxalato)borate (LiDFOB) and lithium hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6), in novel ester-based (methyl acetate/fluoroethylene carbonate- MA/FEC or methyl propionate/fluoroethylene carbonate- MP/FEC) electrolyte formulations has been conducted in LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 (NCM622)/graphite cells to improve low temperature cycling performance of lithium ion batteries at −20 °C. Improved low temperature performance was observed with all the lithium salts in MA/FEC electrolyte while comparable room temperature (25 °C) capacities were observed with LiPF6 salt only. Detailed ex-situ analysis of surface films generated with LiBF4, LiDFOB and LiPF6 in ester-based electrolytes reveals that the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) is predominately composed of lithium salt decompaction products and addition of 10% FEC (by volume%) may not be sufficient at forming a protective SEI.

Lithium-ion batteries are widely used today in powering devices from portable electronics to electric vehicles. Despite their great success, this battery chemistry relies on organic solvent-based liquid electrolytes which are highly flammable, leading to major safety concerns. In contrast, solid-state batteries, which are based on solid-state electrolytes, are regarded to have much better safety characteristics and potentially higher energy density than the conventional lithium-ion batteries. Solid-state electrolytes usually include ceramics, polymers, gels, and composites. Among them, polymer materials have attracted considerable attention due to their great interfacial contact, flexibility, and easy fabrication. In particular, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymer electrolyte is a promising candidate as it can potentially provide a high voltage window and enable high energy density solid-state batteries. However, the current PVDF-based polymer electrolyte is still not compatible with high voltage cathodes, such as layered lithium transition metal oxides and the interaction between the salt and PVDF polymer has not been fully elucidated. We have systematically studied the PVDF-based electrolytes with different salts and salt combinations, including lithium bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (LiFSI), lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI), and lithium bis(pentafluoroethanesulfonyl)imide (LiBETI). The optimized electrolyte delivers excellent performance for solid-state Li||LiFePO4 cells, achieving a specific capacity of over 150 mAh/g and lasting more than 50 cycles with over 99% capacity retention. Similar tests have also been applied to lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxides (NMC), and the preliminary results show promising cycling stability and capacity retention. In addition to electrochemical study, we employed a range of synchrotron-based X-ray techniques, including diffraction, pair distribution function analysis, and absorption spectroscopy, to investigate the interactions between the polymer and lithium salt in the polymer electrolytes. This knowledge will provide valuable information for designing new polymer electrolyte systems. Acknowledgments: The work at Brookhaven National Laboratory was supported by the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Vehicle Technology Office of the U.S. Department of Energy through the Advanced Battery Materials Research (BMR) Program under contract DE-SC0012704. This research used beamline 23-ID-2 and 28-ID-2 of the National Synchrotron Light Source II, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Brookhaven National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-SC0012704.

Solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) plays a pivotal role in the performance of lithium metal anode, which is promising for high energy batteries. Understanding SEI composition is important but very challenging. Here we report on the use of synchrotron-based X-ray diffraction and pair distribution function analysis to identify and differentiate the two elusive components, LiH and LiF, in the SEI of lithium metal anodes. LiH is identified as a component of SEI in high abundance, and the possibility of its misidentification as LiF in the literature is discussed. LiF in the SEI is found to have different structural features from LiF in bulk phase, including larger lattice parameter and smaller grain size (+ transport, and explain why an ionic insulator, like LiF, has been found to be a favored component for SEI. PDF analysis of the SEI reveals key amorphous components related to solvent or anion decomposition. Nickel-rich layered cathode materials with high energy density are very promising for next generation batteries when coupled with lithium metal anode. However, the practical capacities accessible are far less than the theoretical value due to their structural instability during cycling, especially when charged at high voltages. Such challenge has been attributed to the concomitant electrolyte instability and cathode structural and morphological degradation. Therefore, various approaches have been developed through electrolyte engineering and bulk cathode material modifications. In this presentation, we will report a simple interphase engineering approach by using an ionic electrolyte additive, lithium difluorophosphate (LiDFP). Through theoretical calculation, we found that self-decomposition product PO2F of LiDFP additive is adsorbed strongly and uniformly on the Ni-rich cathode, which is further decomposed to Li3PO4 and LiF through the catalytic effect of transition metals. The new interphasial chemistry contributed from LiDFP stabilizes the bulk structure of Ni-rich cathode materials and prevents the performance degradation by suppressing the dissolution of transition metals and undesired structural changes. Even after 200 cycles with charge limit as high as 4.8 V, no rock-salt phase can be detected in LiNi0.76Co0.10Mn0.14O2 (NMC76), and the cell consisting of NMC76 cathode and lithium metal anode retains 97% of the initial capacity (235 mAh/g). Various advanced characterizations were used, on both atomic and electrode levels, to reveal the mechanism how a new interphase stabilizes the layer structures in bulk electrode. The dissolution of nickel was identified to be most serious at high voltage, rather than the widely believed manganese dissolution. The transition metal dissolution can be effectively suppressed by LiDFP additive. Furthermore, the cathode surface protected by LiDFP-derived interphase is shown to regulate a more uniform lithium distribution within the bulk cathode particles and effectively mitigate the strain and crack formation. Machine-learning assisted nano-tomography discovered that such interphase-bulk interaction is most effective for those small-sized, spherically-shaped particles. Acknowledgement: The work done at Brookhaven National Laboratory was supported by the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Vehicle Technology Office of the U.S. DOE through the Advanced Battery Materials Research (BMR) Program, (Battery500 Consortium), and Applied Battery Research for Transportation (ABRT) program under contract No. DE-SC0012704. This work used the resources of the Center for Functional Nanomaterials, a U.S. DOE office of Science User Facility, at Brookhaven National Laboratory, and beamlines 5-ID, 7-BM, 23-ID-2, and 28-ID-2 of the National Synchrotron Light Source II, a US DOE Office of Science user facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Brookhaven National Laboratory under contract no. DE-SC0012704. The work done at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory was supported by the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Vehicle Technologies of the US Department of Energy through the Advanced Battery Materials Research (BMR) Program (Battery500 Consortium) under contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. The work at ARL was performed under JCESR, an Energy Research Hub funded by Basic Energy Science, US Department of Energy.

A new electrolyte system using isoxazole as the salt dissolving solvent has been developed and studied for lithium metal batteries. By using fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) as an additive and 1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethyl-2,2,3,3-tetrafluoropropyl ether (TTE) as a diluent for localized high concentration electrolyte (LHCE), isoxazole-based electrolytes were successfully implemented in lithium metal batteries, demonstrating excellent lithium metal protection capability. Utilizing several advanced characterization techniques (including synchrotron-based X-ray absorption spectroscopy and photoelectron spectroscopy), the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formed on the Li-metal anode in cells using these electrolytes was thoroughly investigated. The high ionic conductivity of isoxazole at low temperature and the low impedance of SEI formed in LHCE significantly improved the low-temperature performance of Li-sulfurized polyacrylonitrile (SPAN) batteries, delivering 273.8 mAh g-1 capacity at -30°C with 99.85% capacity retention after 50 cycles. Acknowledgment: The work done at Brookhaven National Laboratory was supported by the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Vehicle Technology Office of the US Department of Energy (DOE) through the Advanced Battery Materials Research (BMR) Program, including Battery500 Consortium under contract number DE-SC0012704. This research used beamline 8-BM (TES) and 7-ID-2 (SST-2) of the National Synchrotron Light Source II, U.S. DOE Office of Science User Facilities, operated for the DOE Office of Science by Brookhaven National Laboratory under contract number DE-SC0012704. SEM measurements for this manuscript were performed at Center for Functional Nanomaterials, a U.S. DOE office of Science User Facility, at Brookhaven National Laboratory under the contract number DE-SC0012704.

Abstract Advanced characterizations play critical roles in understanding the fundamental properties of important materials. For accurate characterization, it is always necessary to address the possibility of probe-induced damage. A typical example is the successful application of cryo electron microscopy with low dose electron to characterize highly sensitive samples (ref1-3). Unfortunately, there have been very few studies on the effects of radiation damage on Li-ion battery systems caused by synchrotron x-ray beam. In this presentation, we provide direct evidence of synchrotron x-ray beam damage during in situ characterization of battery materials, observed by transmission x-ray microscopy (TXM). The unique capabilities of this technique in obtaining both morphological and chemical information enabled us to study the beam damage issue caused by x-ray. Li-rich Li1.2Ni0.13Mn0.54Co0.13O2 material was characterized in situ to study the redox reaction mechanism of this material. Beam damage in the form of bubble formation in the liquid electrolyte was observed when the material was irradiated with x-ray during 2D/3D XANES (x-ray absorption near edge structure) image collection at Ni K-edge. The bubble formation in liquid electrolyte is most likely due to the decomposition of the electrolyte triggered by x-ray irradiation. This suggests beam damage issue needs to be considered not only for TXM which is commonly used to study the depth-dependent redox reaction in individual particles, but also spectroscopic techniques that employ similar energy range. Such damage may be related to the huge x-ray flux used in the in situ experiment. When filters were used to reduce the flux, the bubble formation was significantly reduced. We further show the evolution of the Ni redox during the cycling with suppressed beam damage, which should be more faithfully reflecting the situation. Acknowledgement This work was supported by the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Vehicle Technology Office of the US Department of Energy (DOE) through the Advanced Battery Materials Research (BMR) Program, including Battery500 Consortium under contract no. DE-SC0012704. This research used beamline 18-ID of the National Synchrotron Light Source II, a US DOE Office of Science user facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Brookhaven National Laboratory under contract no. DE-SC0012704. References J. Z. Chen et al., J. Struct. Biol., 161, 92–100 (2008). X. Wang, Y. Li, and Y. S. Meng, Joule, 2, 2225–2234 (2018). X. Wang et al., Nano Lett., 17, 7606–7612 (2017).

Sodium-ion batteries promise low-cost energy storage for the grid and electric vehicles, building upon the established “rocking-chair” Li-ion design, while benefitting from the natural abundance of sodium and the ability to utilize iron or copper redox reactions to further reduce the material cost. Nonetheless, Na-ion adoption has been hindered due to low energy density and large structural changes leading to poor long-term cyclability. It has been recently shown that additional reversible capacity can be obtained through oxygen redox with low voltage hysteresis in selected Na-ion layered oxide cathodes. However, the mechanisms and the intermediate species that enable this reversible oxygen redox are highly debated and not fully understood. Here we focus on several P3-structured sodium-deficient NaxY1/3Mn2/3O2 cathodes, where Y can be Cu or derivatives with partial lithium substitution, to elucidate how lithium substitution influences both the redox mechanism and the structural evolution during electrochemical cycling. Our results show a small amount (~7%) of lithium substitution can change the reaction pathway from a two-phase reaction to a solid solution mechanism, increasing stability and capacity retention. A multimodal characterization approach combining synchrotron-based X-ray spectroscopy, microscopy, and scattering techniques along with nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, provides insights into the redox mechanisms, chemical species distribution, structural evolution, and phase transitions during electrochemical cycling. Acknowledgment: The work at Brookhaven National Laboratory was supported by the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Vehicle Technology Office of the U.S. Department of Energy through the Advanced Battery Materials Research (BMR) Program under contract DE-SC0012704. This research used resources of the National Synchrotron Light Source II, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Brookhaven National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-SC0012704.

Polyimide (PI) membranes with superior chemical resistance, insulation and self-extinguishing are attracting numerous attentions as the separators of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), but significant challenges of low mechanical strength and poor electrolyte affinity still remain. Herein, a new kind of environmentally friendly hydrogen-bond (H-bond) cross-linked cellulose/carboxylated PI (Cellulose/PI-COOH) nanofiber composite separator is prepared via electrospinning followed by imidization and alkaline hydrolysis. Besides inheriting the high porosity of the pristine PI separator to absorb the electrolyte, the three-dimensional interconnected structure resulting from H-bond cross-linking is beneficial to improving the mechanical properties of the composite separator, and thereby delivers a tensile strength of 34.2 MPa, 5 times higher than that of the pristine PI separator (6.8 MPa). Meanwhile, the exposed hydroxyl groups on the cellulose, and carboxyl and imino groups on the carboxylated PI can also enhance the electrolyte affinity and wettability of the Cellulose/PI-COOH separator, which plays an important role in increasing the ionic conductivity (0.51 mS cm−1) and widening the electrochemical stability window (∼5.1 V). Consequently, compared with the polypropylene separator and PI separator, the H-bond cross-linked Cellulose/PI-COOH separators show better cycle performance and rate performance when adopted in lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) and lithium cobaltate (LiCoO2) half-cells. For example, the Cellulose/PI-COOH-based LiFePO4 half-cell demonstrates the highest initial discharge capacity of 166.2 mAh g-1 and capacity retention rate of 90%, much higher than the pristine PI-based LiFePO4 half-cell (114.6 mAh g-1, 86%). Furthermore, the much enhanced tensile strength, flexibility, thermal stability and flame-resistance of the Cellulose/PI-COOH separator are believed to greatly enhance the safety performance of the obtained LIBs.

Majority existing organic composite phase change materials (CPCMs) are flammable that result in thermal hazards such as fire and explosions in battery modules. Furthermore, the performance of PCM-based battery modules in extreme conditions like thermal runaway has not been studied adequately. In this study, a tubular CPCM-cell structure is designed using physically flame-retardant-modified CPCMs, and a series of experiments on the CPCMs with/without real cells is conducted with calorimeter tests and SEM analysis on morphology structure. First, the calorimeter tests and comparison on the heat release rate (HRR) are conducted on the CPCMs with and without flame retardant additives. Results show that the addition of Al(OH)3 reduced the HRR from 242.5 to 204.4 kW/m2 with 15 wt% additives. Besides, the analysis of the mitigating performances of structure-enhanced tubular module and traditional cuboid module with real batteries is conducted. A factor of safety (FOS) parameter is defined to evaluate the safety degree of thermal runaway domino with energy density. The FOS of blank, CPCM–0C, and CPCM–15C modules are 0, 3.59, and 16.67, respectively, while that of CPCM-15T reaches 21.01, indicating a significant improvement on mitigating effects by structure enhancement compared to adding flame retardant additives. This study brings novelty in the design of PCM-based battery modules, particularly from the thermal safety prospect.

Flexible composite phase change materials (CPCMs) can minimize the thermal contact resistance in battery thermal management. However, these “thermally-induced” flexible CPCMs only present well-flexibility above the phase change temperature, which is unfavorable to the flexible assembly of the cells and battery modules with variable specifications. Herein, a kind of flexible CPCM with well-retained flexibility in a wide temperature range is prepared by carefully selecting a copolyester thermoplastic elastomer with polyether soft segment (TPC-et) to replace the conventional olefin block copolymer (OBC) skeleton. The internal rotation resistance of the ether bond in TPC-et is much lower than that of the C–C bond in OBC, thus giving rise to a better flexibility in room and low temperatures from 20 to −5 ℃. Combining the room-temperature-flexibility with the high thermal conductivity of 1.64 W m−1 K−1, enough latent heat of 102 J g−1 and suitable phase change region of 40–50 ℃, the obtained TPC-et based flexible CPCM shows outstanding applicability and cooling performance to various cells and battery modules through facile installations. The maximum temperature of the cylindrical, prismatic and pouch battery modules with TPC-et based CPCM is 51.5, 42.1 and 50.0 ℃, respectively, 4.0, 3.9 and 5.4 ℃ lower than the modules using rigid CPCM, respectively.

The high initiating temperature of polymerization up to 80–100 °C during the preparation of solid–solid phase change polymer (SSPCP) leads to the limitation of the embedding procedure during the construction of the battery modules. Herein, we develop a low-temperature preparation strategy for SSPCPs by introducing a redox initiation system to reduce the decomposition activation energy, thus realizing the procedure for embedding the SSPCP into a battery module. In addition to the intrinsic ~100% anti-leakage performance and ultrahigh heat tolerance up to 250 °C, the SSPCP/expanded graphite composite demonstrates a suitable phase change temperature of 47.8 °C, high thermal conductivity of 2.33 W m−1 K−1, and latent heat of 99.6 J g−1 for battery thermal management, thus delivering a lower maximum temperature (47.4 °C vs. 45.2 °C) for the battery module than traditional composite phase change material during 15 charge–discharge cycles. No leakage traces are detected in the SSPCP module.

In the advanced battery thermal management (BTM) strategy of phase change material (PCM) cooling, composite PCM (CPCM) is commonly obtained by a melting-blending method, which requires a preparation temperature as high as 150–200 °C to melt the polymer component. Herein, we prepare a new kind of flexible CPCM (FCPCM) through a simple solvent-evaporation method under room temperature by carefully selecting an ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer as the flexible polymer component. As prepared, the obtained EVA-based FCPCM possesses suitable thermo-physical properties and an excellent flexibility at room temperature, which can effectively reduce the thermal contact resistance, and therefore delivers an outstanding temperature-control performance in BTM applications. For example, during a harsh cyclic working environment, the battery module cooled by EVA-FCPCM plates shows a much lower maximum temperature and temperature difference at 50.0 and 3.7 °C, respectively, 8.1 and 4.8 °C lower than the battery module cooled by traditional rigid CPCM plates, respectively. This new and mild strategy adopting solvent-evaporation instead of melting-blending is believed to greatly simplify the preparation procedure, and thereby promotes the engineering applications.

A novel carbon-incorporated lithium phosphate (LiCPON) solid electrolyte is prepared to overcome the deterioration of lithium phosphorus oxynitride (LiPON) via hydrolysis reaction in air as well as improve its ionic conductivity for application in all-solid-state batteries. Physical and electrochemical properties of LiCPON electrolyte have been systematically investigated. The ionic conductivities of LiCPON is about 3.06 × 10−6 S cm−1, while relatively low ionic conductivity of 7.46 × 10−7 S cm−1 is achieved for LiPON. All-solid-state thin-film LiFeFe(CN)6/LiCPON/Li full cell consists of two unit cells externally connected in parallel delivers a high discharge capacity of 7.8 mAh. The high overall voltage of 5.0 V is achieved for two unit cells connected in series. XPS results reveal that the addition of C in LiPON can alleviate the hydrolysis reaction of LiPON and improve its chemical stability in air. Overall, high ionic conductivity and improved air stability make glassy LiCPON a promising new electrolyte for all-solid-state Li metal batteries.