Spontaneous Built-In Electric Field in C3N4-CoSe2 Modified Multifunctional Separator with Accelerating Sulfur Evolution Kinetics and Li Deposition for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

The discovery of the heterostructures that is combining two materials with different properties has brought new opportunities for the development of lithium sulfur batteries (LSBs). Here, C3N4-CoSe2 composite is elaborately designed and used as a functional coating on the LSBs separator. The abundant chemisorption sites of C3N4-CoSe2 form chemical bonding with polysulfides, provides suitable adsorption energy for lithium polysulfides (LiPSs). More importantly, the spontaneously formed internal electric field accelerates the charge flow in the C3N4-CoSe2 interface, thus facilitating the transport of LiPSs and electrons and promoting the bidirectional conversion of sulfur. Meanwhile, the lithiophilic C3N4-CoSe2 sample with catalytic activity can effectively regulate the uniform distribution of lithium when Li+ penetrates the separator, avoiding the formation of lithium dendrites in the lithium (Li) metal anode. Therefore, LSBs based on C3N4-CoSe2 functionalized membranes exhibit a stable long cycle life at 1C (with capacity decay of 0.0819% per cycle) and a large areal capacity of 10.30 mAh cm-2 at 0.1C (sulfur load: 8.26 mg cm-2, lean electrolyte 5.4 µL mgs -1). Even under high-temperature conditions of 60 °C, a capacity retention rate of 81.8% after 100 cycles at 1 C current density is maintained.

Elucidating the Mechanism on the Transition-Metal Ion-Synergetic-Catalyzed Oxidation of SO2 with Implications for Sulfate Formation in Beijing Haze

Currently, atmospheric sulfate aerosols cannot be predicted reliably by numerical models because the pathways and kinetics of sulfate formation are unclear. Here, we systematically investigated the synergetic catalyzing role of transition-metal ions (TMIs, Fe3+/Mn2+) in the oxidation of SO2 by O2 on aerosols using chamber experiments. Our results showed that the synergetic effect of TMIs is critically dependent on aerosol pH due to the solubility of Fe(III) species sensitive to the aqueous phase acidity, which is effective only under pH < 3 conditions. The sulfate formation rate on aerosols is 2 orders of magnitude larger than that in bulk solution and increases significantly on smaller aerosols, suggesting that such a synergetic-catalyzed oxidation occurs on the aerosol surface. The kinetic reaction rate can be described as R = k*[H+]-2.95[Mn(II)][Fe(III)][S(IV)] (pH ≤ 3.0). We found that TMI-synergetic-catalyzed oxidation is the dominant pathway of sulfate formation in Beijing when haze particles are very acidic, while heterogeneous oxidation of SO2 by NO2 is the most important pathway when haze particles are weakly acidic. Our work for the first time clarified the role and kinetics of TMI-synergetic-catalyzed oxidation of SO2 by O2 in haze periods, which can be parameterized into models for future studies of sulfate formation.

Kinetic Model of Urea-Related Deposit Reactions

The thermal analysis kinetic method was employed to solve the activation energies of the thermal decomposition reactions of urea and cyanuric acid, with the purpose of understanding the formation of deposits in the diesel engine SCR system. The deposit reaction kinetic model was established by optimizing the reaction paths and reaction kinetic parameters based on the thermal analysis test data of the key components in the deposit. The result shows that the established deposit reaction kinetic model can accurately describe the decomposition process of the key components in the deposit. Compared to the Ebrahimian model, the simulation precision of the established deposit reaction kinetic model is significantly improved above 600 K. The activation energies of the urea and cyanuric acid decomposition reactions are 84 kJ/mol and 152 kJ/mol, respectively, after model parameters identification. The identified activation energies were closest to those of the Friedman one-interval method indicating that the Friedman one-interval method is reasonable to solve the activation energies of deposit reactions.