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Rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries (RAZIBs) have some inherent advantages such as intrinsic safety, low-cost and theoretically high energy density, making them a current topic of interest. However, the phenomenon of zinc (Zn) dendrite growth at the anode results in the instability of RAZIBs and limits their real-world application. Herein, by employing a high strength hydrogel polymer electrolyte, the growth of dendritic Zn crystals is effectively eliminated through the mechanical suppression effect, resulting in a stable Zn anode that demonstrates dendrite-free plating/stripping with a long lifespan. Even under a high current density of 5 mA cm(-2), the Zn||Zn symmetric cell is shown to have a cyclic lifetime of longer than 1000 hours. Moreover, the stable cyclic performance of the Zn anode spawns a Zn||MnO2 battery with high capacity (4.8-1.9 mA h cm(-2)) and long lifetime (500 cycles at 9.2 mA cm(-2), 1C), which can meet the practical demands for portable devices. This work shows that high strength polymer gel electrolytes with internal energy dissipation mechanisms can overcome previous challenges that prevented practical utilization of RAZIBs. Together with the outstanding cyclic properties of the high capacity Zn||MnO2 batteries, this work provides a new pathway toward designing high energy density RAZIBs.

Recenzowana monografia redakcyjna składająca się z 10-ciu rozdziałów naukowych., w ramach współpracy naukowej z Ukrainą - LPUKF we Lwowie

On the way to achieve a practical lithium (Li) metal anode for next-generation batteries, the formation and accumulation of inactive "Dead Li" is an unavoidable issue. The accumulation of "Dead Li" leads to increased internal mass-transfer resistance which seriously deteriorates the performance of Li metal batteries during long-term cycling. In this study, by accommodating Li metal into a copper oxide coated carbon scroll host with a vertically aligned framework which possesses a unique low-tortuosity structure, the cycling stability of the Li anode can be significantly improved. It is demonstrated that the mass-transfer resistance and the concentration polarization near the Li metal surface can be greatly alleviated by using this low-tortuosity anode structure design. "Dead Li" that is formed on the electrode surface can automatically fall into the inner tunnel of the carbon host, endowing the anode with the capability of "Dead Li" self-cleaning. As a result, our new Li electrode can remain electrochemically active even after 1000 h in a symmetric cell measurement from 1 mA cm(-2) to 1 mA h for 500 cycles. The as-reported structure design of the Li anode in this work is compatible with most of the modification technologies that have been applied to conventional Li foil electrodes, providing this new Li anode with a great potential to be applied in subsequent Li anode studies.

Titania (titanium(IV) oxide) is a highly active, stable, cheap and abundant photocatalyst, and is thus commonly applied in various environmental applications. However, two main shortcomings of titania, i.e., charge carrier recombination and inactivity under visible-light (vis) irradiation, should be overcome for widespread commercialization. Accordingly, titania has been doped, surface modified and coupled with various ions/compounds, including narrower bandgap semiconductors, such as oxides of copper and silver. Unfortunately, these oxides are not as stable as titania, and thus loss of activity under long-term irradiation (photo-corrosion) has been observed. Therefore, this study has focused on the preparation of stable coupled photocatalysts, i.e., CuxO@TiO2 core-shell nanostructures, by the microemulsion method from commercial Cu2O as a core and TiO2 (ST01-fine anatase) as a shell. The photocatalysts have been characterized by DRS, SEM, TEM, XRD, XPS and reversed double-beam photoacoustic spectroscopy (RDB-PAS) methods, and activity tests under UV (anaerobic dehydrogenation of methanol and oxidative decomposition of acetic acid) and vis (phenol oxidation) irradiation. The higher activities of coupled photocatalysts than their counterparts have been found in all studied systems under UV/vis irradiation. Moreover, long-term experiments (10 h) have shown high stability of CuxO@TiO2. However, the change of oxidation state of copper has also been observed, i.e., to negative and positive values, confirming the charge transfer according to the Z-scheme under UV irradiation and type-II heterojunction under vis irradiation, respectively. The property-governed activity and the mechanism have been discussed in detail.

A simple anodizing technique has been employed to develop highly active electrocatalysts that can be applied to the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline media. NiFe alloys were electrodeposited and anodized to form a porous electrocatalytic layer. This approach produces highly active electrodes without the need for noble metals, binders, or conductive carbon additives. The as-anodized electrode initially exhibits poor OER activity in 1.0 mol dm(-3) KOH; however, the effects of potential cycling improve the OER activity to an extent that an overpotential as low as 0.26 V at 10 mA cm(-2) is observed for the anodized Ni-11.8 at. % Fe electrode. Although significant in situ activation is achieved with anodized NiFe electrodes, this activation is less significant for as-deposited NiFe or anodized Ni electrodes. Furthermore, OER activity is observed to be composition-dependent, with the Ni-11.8 at. % Fe electrode exhibiting the greatest activity. A porous fluoride-rich, Fe-doped Ni oxyfluoride layer produced by anodizing is converted via potential cycling to an amorphous or poorly crystalline Fe-doped Ni(OH)(2) layer with a nanoflake-like morphology. The high activity is maintained even after the removal of most of the fluoride. Thus, the F-rich, Fe-doped Ni oxyfluoride is a promising precursor to develop a highly active OER electrode.

Brownmillerite-type Ca2FeCoO5 (CFCO) is a highly active electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In this study, we identified the actual catalytically active phase of this oxide formed via the long-term OER and, moreover, demonstrated that the active phase can persist during the OER for 4 weeks without significant loss of electrocatalytic activity. The long-term durability tests were carried out on CFCO via continuous galvanostatic OER in 4 mol dm(-3) KOH aqueous solution for periods ranging from a few hours to 1 month, and the specimens submitted to the tests were characterized by means of electrochemical measurements and structural analysis using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy, and X-ray absorption fluorescence spectroscopy. CFCO was readily converted to amorphous cobalt oxyhydroxides with 10% Fe substituents through the OER process, and these compounds had a local rearrangement similar to that of the layered gamma-CoOOH-type structure. This transformation involved large morphological changes of the oxide particles because of the extensive dissolution of Ca and Fe, yielding skeletal grains made of oxyhydroxide nanosheet aggregates. The extended durability studies with total polarization charge density of the order of 10(5) C cm(-2) revealed that a (Co, Fe)OOH-like compound is the actual electrocatalytic phase.