Chemically monodisperse tin nanoparticles on monolithic 3D nanoporous copper for lithium ion battery anodes with ultralong cycle life and stable lithium storage properties

Designing 3D SnS@Cu-Ni Nanoporous Column Array Electrode for High-Capacity and High-Rate Lithium-Ion Batteries

Sn-based materials with high capacity showcase great potential for next-generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Yet, the large volume change and limited ion/electron transfer efficiency of Sn-based materials upon operation significantly compromises the battery performance. In this study, a unique 3D copper-nickel nanoporous column array current collector is rationally developed via a facile template-free galvanostatic electrodeposition method, followed by electrodepositing SnS active material onto it (denoted as 3D SnS@CNCA). Excitingly, the morphology of the 3D SnS@CNCA electrode perfectly inherited the nanoporous column array structure of the 3D current collector, which not only endows the electrode with a large specific surface area to provide more active sites and sufficient ion/electron transport pathways, but also effectively alleviates the volume expansion of SnS upon repeated charge-discharge cycles. Therefore, the binder-free 3D SnS@CNCA electrode showcases a significantly enhanced Li storage performance, showing a high initial reversible capacity of 1019.7 mAh g-1 with noteworthy cycling stability (a capacity retention rate of 89.4% after 200 cycles). Moreover, the designed electrode also manifests high rate performance with a high capacity of 570.6 mAh g-1 at 4 A g-1. This work provides a novel design idea for the preparation of high-performance electrodes beyond LIBs.

Progress and Prospect of Zn Anode Modification in Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries: Experimental and Theoretical Aspects

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs), the favorite of next-generation energy storage devices, are popular among researchers owing to their environmental friendliness, low cost, and safety. However, AZIBs still face problems of low cathode capacity, fast attenuation, slow ion migration rate, and irregular dendrite growth on anodes. In recent years, many researchers have focused on Zn anode modification to restrain dendrite growth. This review introduces the energy storage mechanism and current challenges of AZIBs, and then some modifying strategies for zinc anodes are elucidated from the perspectives of experiments and theoretical calculations. From the experimental point of view, the modification strategy is mainly to construct a dense artificial interface layer or porous framework on the anode surface, with some research teams directly using zinc alloys as anodes. On the other hand, theoretical research is mainly based on adsorption energy, differential charge density, and molecular dynamics. Finally, this paper summarizes the research progress on AZIBs and puts forward some prospects.

Nitrogen-doped carbon encapsulated hollow ZnSe/CoSe2 nanospheres as high performance anodes for lithium-ion batteries

Hierarchical nitrogen-doped carbon encapsulated hollow ZnSe/CoSe2 (ZnSe/CoSe2@N-C) nanospheres are fabricated by a convenient solvothermal and selenization approach, followed by a carbonization process. The as-obtained ZnSe/CoSe2@N-C possesses a multilevel nanoscale architecture composed of a thin carbon shell with a size of around 12 nm and hollow selenide nanoparticles as the core with tiny rough grains and rich voids as the subunits. The robust carbon protective shell and synergistic effect between double metal ions boost the electron and ion transportation as well as promote effective extraction and insertion of lithium ions. Hollow ZnSe/CoSe2@N-C spheres show high reversible capacity with 1153 mA h g-1 remaining over 100 cycles at 100 mA g-1. In particular, the hollow ZnSe/CoSe2@N-C spheres show an outstanding cycling stability at a high rate of 2000 mA g-1 with the reversible capacity of up to 966 mA h g-1 remaining after 500 cycles. As an advanced anode, ZnSe/CoSe2@N-C composite shows remarkable cycling stability and exceptional rate capability in the field of energy storage technologies.

Bio-inspired fabrication of Ester-functionalized imprinted composite membrane for rapid and high-efficient recovery of lithium ion from seawater

Lithium ion (Li⁺) is one of the important sustainable resource and it's urgently demanded to develop high-selectivity and high-efficient method to extract of Li⁺ from seawater. Hence, we propose the ester-functionalized ion-imprinted membrane (IIMs) with high selectivity and stability for the rebinding and separation of Li⁺ in aqueous medium via ion imprinted technology and membrane separation technology. In this work, the hydrophilic polydimethylsiloxane membranes (PDMS) are synthesized by self-polymerization of dopamine (DA) in aqueous solution, resulting in the fabrication of dense poly-dopamine (PDA) layer on the surface of PDMS (PDMS-PDA). In view of weak bonding forces (such as hydrogen bond, ionic bond and Van der Waals' force) between traditional imprinted polymer and ligand, the ester groups are formed between modified PDMS-PDA and ligand by surface grafting. The obtained Li⁺ imprinted membranes (Li-IIMs) have a suitable cavity and high adsorption capacity toward Li⁺ which reveal a high rebinding capacity (50.872 mg g^-1) toward Li⁺ based on ample rebinding sites and strong affinity force. The superior relative selectivity coefficients (α_Na/Li, α_K/Li and α_Rb/Li are 1.71, 4.56 and 3.80, respectively) can be also achieved. The selectivity factors of Li-IIMs for Na⁺, K⁺ and Rb⁺ are estimated to be 2.52, 2.8 and 3.03 times larger than Li⁺ non-imprinted membranes (Li-NIMs), which imply the superior selectivity of Li-IIMs toward Li⁺. The regeneration ability of Li-IIMs is observed by systematic batch experiments. In summary, it can be concluded that the rebinding capacities of Li-IIMs is slightly decrease after eluting process, owing to the Li-IIMs with outstanding stability performance. Presentation of the method pave a fine prospect for coming true the long-term use of imprinted membrane.

A long-cycling anode based on a coral-like Sn nanostructure with a binary binder

We report a facile one-pot displacement reaction for the synthesis of a 3D coral-like Sn nanostructure towards a long-cycling Li-ion battery anode.