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Severe shuttle effect and sluggish reaction kinetics caused by lithium‐polysulfides have always been the dominant factor to reduce the actual energy density of lithium–sulfur batteries. It's very important to simultaneously balance the surface adsorption and redox conversion of the lithium‐polysulfides. Herein, a TiO2/TiN heterostructure and in situ N‐doping modified multifunctional carbon interlayer is designed and constructed using a melamine foam as the matrix material at a relatively low temperature and without NH3 atmosphere. Interestingly, TiO2 nano‐particles decorated on the N‐enriched melamine carbon foam can be partially in situ transformed into TiN during pyrolysis process. Based on the support of highly conductive and interconnected carbon skeletons, the N heteroatom and TiO2/TiN show good synergetic adsorption and conversion of the soluble lithium‐polysulfides, whilst boosting the electrochemical performance of lithium–sulfur batteries. Consequently, when used the multifunctional carbon interlayer, the Super P/sulfur cathode based lithium–sulfur battery delivers a high initial discharge capacity of 814 mAh g−1 at a high current rate of 2.0 C and maintain the 548 mAh g−1 after 500 cycles. Even with the high sulfur loading of 7.5 mg cm−2 and low E/S ratio of 4.7 µL mg−1, an acceptable areal capacity of 8.2 mAh cm−2 can be obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In natural kaolinite lattices, A l 3 + can potentially be substituted by cations such as M g 2 + , C a 2 + , and F e 3 + , thereby influencing its adsorption characteristics towards rare earth elements like S c 3 + . Density functional theory (DFT) has emerged as a crucial tool in the study of adsorption phenomena, particularly for understanding the complex interactions of rare earth elements with clay minerals. This study employed DFT to investigate the impact of these three dopant elements on the adsorption of hydrated S c 3 + on the kaolinite (001) Al-OH surface. We discerned that the optimal adsorption configuration for hydrated S c 3 + is S c (H 2 O) 8 3 + , with a preference for adsorption at the deprotonated Ou sites. Among the dopants, Mg doping exhibited superior stability with a binding energy of −4.311 eV and the most negative adsorption energy of −1104.16 kJ/mol. Both Mg and Ca doping enhanced the covalency of the Al-O bond, leading to a subtle shift in the overall density of states towards higher energies, thereby augmenting the reactivity of the O atoms. In contrast, Fe doping caused a pronounced shift in the density of states towards lower energies. Compared to the undoped kaolinite, Mg and Ca doping further diminished the adsorption energy of hydrated S c 3 + and increased its coordination number, while Fe doping elevated the adsorption energy. This study offers profound insights into understanding the role of dopant elements in the adsorption of hydrated S c 3 + on kaolinite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the unique features of poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA), its mechanical properties, such as the elongation at break, need improvement to broaden its application scope. Herein, poly(1,3-propylene glycol citrate) (PO3GCA) was synthesized via a one-step reaction and evaluated as a plasticizer for PLLA films. Thin-film characterization of PLLA/PO3GCA films prepared via solution casting revealed that PO3GCA shows good compatibility with PLLA. The addition of PO3GCA slightly improves the thermal stability and enhances the toughness of PLLA films. In particular, the elongation at break of the PLLA/PO3GCA films with PO3GCA mass contents of 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% increases to 172%, 209%, 230%, and 218%, respectively. Therefore, PO3GCA is promising as a plasticizer for PLLA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly(1,3-propanediol palmitate)/L-polylactic acid (PO3G-PA/PLLA) composite films were prepared by solution casting. The two raw materials used to prepare the film are 100% renewable. The experimental results of the composite films show that the addition of PO3G–PA can significantly improve the toughness and crystallinity of PLLA while keeping the thermal stability of the film unchanged. When PO3G–PA was added to the film at concentrations of 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25%, the elongation at break of the film reached 37.5%, 68.8%, 118.9%, 226.8%, and 95.9%, respectively. The crystallinity of PLLA could reach 4.5%, 6.19%, 10.59%, 23.00%, 25.28%, and 16.62%, separately. The accelerated degradation experiments at 60 °C showed that adding different quantities of PO3G-PA under neutral conditions had a minimal effect on the rate of PLLA film degradation. The degradation rate of the PLLA membrane can be successfully modified by varying the concentration of PO3G–PA under acidic and alkaline conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]