Zwitterionic monolayer grafted ceramic membrane with an antifouling performance for the efficient oil-water separation

Zinc-Ion Anchor Induced Highly Reversible Zn Anodes for High Performance Zn-Ion Batteries

Unstable Zn interface with serious detrimental parasitic side-reactions and uncontrollable Zn dendrites severely plagues the practical application of aqueous zinc-ion batteries. The interface stability was closely related to the electrolyte configuration and Zn2+ depositional behavior. In this work, a unique Zn-ion anchoring strategy is originally proposed to manipulate the coordination structure of solvated Zn-ions and guide the Zn-ion depositional behavior. Specifically, the amphoteric charged ion additives (denoted as DM), which act as zinc-ion anchors, can tightly absorb on the Zn surface to guide the uniform zinc-ion distribution by using its positively charged -NR4 + groups. While the negatively charged -SO3 - groups of DM on the other hand, reduces the active water molecules within solvation sheaths of Zn-ions. Benefiting from the special synergistic effect, Zn metal exhibits highly ordered and compact (002) Zn deposition and negligible side-reactions. As a result, the advanced Zn||Zn symmetric cell delivers extraordinarily 7000 hours long lifespan (0.25 mA cm-2, 0.25 mAh cm-2). Additionally, based on this strategy, the NH4V4O10||Zn pouch-cell with low negative/positive capacity ratio (N/P ratio=2.98) maintains 80.4 % capacity retention for 180 cycles. A more practical 4 cm*4 cm sized pouch-cell could be steadily cycled in a high output capacity of 37.0 mAh over 50 cycles.

Superhydrophilic and Photothermal Fe-TCPP Nanofibrous Membrane for Efficient Oil-in-Water Nanoemulsion Separation

Separation and purification of surfactant-stabilized oil-in-water nanoemulsions is a great environmental challenge. Membrane-based separation strategies are more effective over conventional methods in the treatment of nanoemulsion waste water. In this paper, we construct a superhydrophilic membrane by coating a thin photothermal-responsive iron tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin (Fe-TCPP) nanofibrous metal organic framework (MOF) selective layer on a macroporous polyethersulfone membrane. The as-prepared membrane exhibits high separation performance of oil-in-water nanoemulsions with permeance of 46.4 L·m^-2·h^-1·bar^-1 and separation efficiency of 99%. It also demonstrates nice anti-oil/ionic-fouling property, good recyclability, and desirable stability. The high separation performance is accredited to the superhydrophilicity, highly charged surface, and nanometer pore sizes of the Fe-TCPP nanofibrous membrane. Due to the unique photothermal property of Fe-TCPP nanofibers, the permeance can be enhanced more than 50% by visible light without deteriorating the rejection. This photo-stimuli MOF-based thin-layer membrane offers great potential for the generation of point-of-use water treatment devices.