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A new strategy for electrochemical interfaces that utilizes multilayer films deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) is introduced. Manganese-rich and nickel-rich cathode oxides were coated with a novel bilayer film of metal fluorides. Subsequent exposure to prolonged, high-voltage electrochemical cycling vs graphite electrodes revealed that the bilayer film can greatly enhance the high-voltage stability of cathode oxides. In particular, in manganese-rich cells, capacity fade due to manganese dissolution was substantially reduced and impedance rise was virtually eliminated. Furthermore, in nickel-rich NMC-811 cells, impedance rise was reduced by ∼80%, compared to the NMC-811 baseline, after ∼300 h of high-voltage exposure during cycling. The multilayer film strategy presents an exciting opportunity for tailoring designs and materials for electrochemical interfaces in advanced lithium-ion batteries and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microchannel plate photodetectors, capable of picosecond time resolution and sub-mm spatial resolution, are a perfect candidate for the next generation of photodetectors for precision timing measurements. Argonne National Laboratory is producing low-cost, all-glass body, planar photodetectors with an indium seal. The design and fabrication of 6-cm square photodetectors has been well demonstrated in an ultra-high vacuum system. Recently, a new design was developed to optimize the photodetector bias voltage. This design offers an improved configuration and allows external control of the bias voltage for each internal detector component. Design and measurements of the new independently biased devices are described in this paper. We performed a systematic study on the bias voltage and achieved a gain on the order of $10^{{\mathbf {7}}}$ , a time resolution better than 35 ps, and a spatial resolution better than 1 mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A lithium–sulfur (Li–S) battery is one of the post‐lithium‐ion battery chemistry candidates due to the high theoretical capacity of the sulfur cathode (1672 mAh g−1). However, low electronic conductivity of sulfur and severe capacity fading during the charge–discharge process limit the commercial realization of Li–S batteries. The origin of capacity fading is mainly due to the polysulfide shuttling effect, resulting from the dissolution of sulfur in the electrolyte solution. Herein, atomic layer deposition (ALD) (6–8 Å thickness) of alumina is presented as a strategy to suppress capacity degradation on the 2D graphene–sulfur hybrid electrode. Low‐temperature ALD prevents sulfur sublimation from the composite electrode. Despite the insulating property of alumina, atomic layer coating maintains good electrical conductivity, thereby yielding lower charge transfer resistance. Alumina‐coated graphene–sulfur hybrid electrodes (AGS) exhibit a high specific capacity of 960 mAh g−1 at a current density of 50 mA g−1 and retain 519 mAh g−1 after 100 galvanostatic cycles. Superior electrochemical performance is credited to the combination of the high electronic conductivity of multilayered graphene platelets and low charge transfer resistance, resulting from effective polysulfide blocking by the atomic scale Al2O3 coating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]