Qilin Cheng

The severe dendrite growth and inherent surface passivation layer of Zn anodes greatly undermine the reversibility and practicality of aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs). Herein, an optimized chemical polishing strategy to texture Zn metals is developed via the incorporation of the acid etching solution and alkyl polyglucoside (APG) surfactant. The APG-assisted acid-etched Zn metals (AAE-Zn) possess a surface free of passivation layer and a high (002) texture. Mechanistic studies reveal that APG significantly improves the wettability between the acid etching solution and Zn metals, avoiding the incomplete etching caused by the adhesion of generated bubbles to the Zn metal surface. Additionally, APG featuring preferential adsorption on the (100) and (101) crystal planes can increase the etching efficacy of the above two crystal planes to render the high proportion (002) texture remaining. The cooperation of no passivation layer surface and (002) texture not only suppresses dendrite growth and related side reactions but also ensures uniformly distributed electric field and Zn²⁺ ion flux. Consequently, AAE-Zn electrodes exhibit long-term lifespan over 4000 h at 1 mA cm^–2 and 110 h at 85% depth of discharge in the symmetric cells and maintains 80% of the initial capacity after 1500 cycles at 10 A g^–1 for coin-type full cells. This chemical polishing approach offers a compelling strategy to propel the large-scale commercialization of aqueous ZIBs toward realization.

Garnet‐type solid‐state electrolyte Li _6.4 La ₃ Zr _1.4 Ta _0.6 O ₁₂ (LLZTO) is regarded as one of the most promising electrolytes due to its exceptional overall performance. However, the development of garnet‐based all‐solid‐state lithium metal batteries (ASSLMBs) is significantly impeded by the poor air stability of LLZTO and the uneven contact of Li/LLZTO. In this work, a uniformly porous electrolyte (PLLZTO) is fabricated via sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) assisted HNO ₃ etching. Owing to the hydrophobicity of the C ₁₂ H ₂₅ ‐ chain of SDBS, the storage time of PLLZTO in air is increased to more than 7 days. By adsorbing and filling graphene oxide quantum dots and LiNO ₃ in the surface of PLLZTO, a 3D ionic conductor interface containing Li ₃ N/LiN _x O _y /Li ₂ O (LNO@PLLZTO) is constructed by in situ reaction with lithium. Benefiting from the LNO@PLLZTO interface, Li|LNO@PLLZTO|Li achieves a low interfacial impedance of 4 Ω cm ² and a high critical current density of 1.5 mA cm ⁻² , demonstrating stable cycling for 3000 h at 0.2 mA cm ⁻² . The assembled ASSLMBs with polyethylene oxide (PEO)‐based functional layer retains 92% capacity retention after 250 cycles at 1 C. This work not only significantly enhances the air stability of LLZTO but also achieves an ultra‐lithiophilic interface, thus laying a foundation for the realization of high‐performance ASSLMBs.

La vacancies were introduced into the highly tunable La _{2− x} MgTiO ₆ :0.01Fe ³⁺ double perovskite host lattice, increasing emission intensity by 76.83%. The phosphor was applied to near-infrared imaging and plant cultivation.

Aqueous sodium-ion batteries (ASIBs) are critically challenged by insufficient cycle life and low capacity, predominantly originating from the structural instability of electrode materials. Herein, a stable three-dimensional (3D) honeycomb-like MXene (HMX) framework is designed as a host material for sodium cobalt hexacyanoferrate (NaCoHCF) to function as a high-performance cathode in ASIBs, enabling efficient sodium-ion storage through its interconnected conductive architecture. The HMX host serves as a conductive stress-buffering matrix that simultaneously suppresses crystal structure distortion in NaCoHCF, prevents nanoparticle coalescence, and creates an electron transport network. Crucially, the honeycomb configuration not only eliminates MXene restacking but also exposes abundant ion-accessible active sites through its tortuous multidirectional channels. With these synergistic advantages of the composite structure, the NaCoHCF/HMX-based half-cell achieves a high discharge specific capacity of 123.7 mAh g^-1 at 0.1 A g^-1. Significantly, it maintains 82.4% of its initial capacity after 10,000 cycles at 2.0 A g^-1. Moreover, the assembled full-cell, NaCoHCF/HMX∥NaTi₂(PO₄)₃@C, exhibits remarkable cycling stability with 94.4% capacity retention after 2500 cycles, maintaining a high reversible capacity of 107.5 mAh g^-1 at 1.0 A g^-1. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations verify the interfacial coupling and synthesis mechanism of NaCoHCF/HMX. This work offers a feasible strategy for advancing PBAs-based materials in ASIBs applications.

Li‐ion capacitors (LICs) integrate the desirable features of lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs) and supercapacitors (SCs), but the kinetic imbalance between the both electrodes leads to inferior electrochemical performance. Thus, constructing an advanced anode with outstanding rate capability and terrific redox kinetics is crucial to LICs. Herein, heterostructured ZnS/SnS₂ nanosheets encapsulated into N‐doped carbon microcubes (ZnS/SnS₂@NC) are successfully fabricated. The sufficient ZnS/SnS₂ heterostructure possesses abundant active sites, and the built‐in electric field formed at the heterojunction interface can facilitate electron/ion migration. The interconnected hollow carbon layers could reduce the electron transfer resistance effectively and accommodate the volume change of SnS₂, thereby maintaining the structural stability. Due to the synergy between multi‐components, the ZnS/SnS₂@NC anode demonstrates impressive Li storage performance with an excellent cyclic durablity (690 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.5 A g⁻¹ after 600 cycles) and considerable rate capability. Moreover, when matched with active carbon, the ZnS/SnS₂@NC based LIC device delivers an admirable energy density of 134.1 Wh kg⁻¹ and a high power output of 11,250 W kg⁻¹, as well as remarkable capacity retention of 73.2 % after 6,000 cycles at 1.0 A g⁻¹. The experimental results demonstrate the significance of optimized heterointerface engineering toward construction of electrode materials with high‐performance for Li storage.

Solid-state lithium metal batteries (SSLMBs) with high energy density and superior safety have been recognized as next-generation energy storage systems and have attracted a lot of attention. Garnet-type oxide solid-state electrolytes, especially Li_6.4La₃Zr_1.4Ta_0.6O₁₂ (LLZTO), with high ionic conductivity, low activation energy and superior stability with Li, are among the most promising solid-state electrolyte materials. However, high interfacial resistance, uneven lithium deposition and lithium dendrite growth between Li/LLZTO interfaces have hindered the industrialization of SSLMBs. In this work, a novel mortise–tenon-like hybrid ionic/electronic conductive interface (Li/LZFC@LLZTO) is constructed, which is composed of LiF, LiCl, and a Li–Zn alloy through an in situ transformation reaction. As expected, the interfacial impedance of Li|LZFC@LLZTO|Li is significantly reduced from 128 Ω cm² to 2.7 Ω cm², the critical current density increases from 0.3 mA cm⁻² to 2.1 mA cm⁻², and a prominent cycling performance of 6600 h at 0.2 mA cm⁻² or 900 h at 0.4 mA cm⁻² is achieved. Consequently, both the Li|LZFC@LLZTO|LiFePO₄ and Li|LZFC@LLZTO|LiNi_0.8Co_0.1Mn_0.1O₂ full cells exhibit excellent rate performance. Furthermore, Li|LZFC@LLZTO|LiFePO₄ can maintain a high discharge specific capacity close to 140 mA h g⁻¹ at 0.2C after 150 cycles of stable cycling. This work lays the foundation for developing garnet-based SSLMBs with high critical current density, low interfacial impedance and long-term cycling performance.

Digestion of macro-nutrients (protein and starch) in pulses is a consequence of the interplay of both extrinsic (process-related) and intrinsic (matrix-dependent) factors which influence their level of encapsulation and physical state, and therefore, their accessibility by the digestive enzymes. The current work aimed at understanding the consequences of hydrothermally induced changes in the physical state of cell biopolymers (cell wall, protein, and starch) in modulating the digestion kinetics of starch and proteins in common beans. The hydrothermal treatments were designed such that targeted microstructural/biopolymer changes occurred. Therefore, bean samples were processed at temperatures between 60 and 95 °C for 90 minutes. It was demonstrated that these treatments allowed the modulation of starch gelatinization, protein denaturation and cell separation. The specific role of hydrothermally induced starch gelatinization and protein denaturation, alongside enhanced cell wall permeability on the digestion kinetics of common bean starch and proteins is illustrated. For instance, bean samples processed at T > 70 °C were marked by higher levels of starch digestibility (C_f values above 47%) compared to the partially (un-)gelatinized samples (processed at T ≤ 70 °C) (C_f values below 35%). Similarly, samples processed at T > 85 °C exhibited significantly higher levels of protein digestibility (C_f values above 47%) resulting from complete protein denaturation. Moreover, increased permeability of the cell wall to digestive enzymes in these samples (T > 85 °C) increased levels of digestibility of both gelatinized starch and denatured proteins. This study provides an understanding of the potential use of hydrothermal processing to obtain pulse-based ingredients with pre-determined microstructural and nutritional characteristics.