Lithium Ferrocyanide Catholyte for High-Energy and Low-cost Aqueous Redox Flow Batteries**

Aqueous redox flow batteries (ARFBs) are a promising technology for grid-scale energy storage, however, their commercial success relies on redox-active materials (RAM) with high electron storage capacity and cost competitiveness. Herein, a redox-active material lithium ferrocyanide (Li₄[Fe(CN)₆]) is designed. Li⁺ ions not only greatly boost the solubility of [Fe(CN)₆]⁴⁻ to 2.32 M at room temperature due to weak intermolecular interactions, but also improves the electrochemical performance of [Fe(CN)₆]^4−/3−. By coupling with Zn, ZIRFBs were built, and the capacity of the batteries was as high as 61.64 Ah L⁻¹ (pH-neutral) and 56.28 Ah L⁻¹ (alkaline) at a [Fe(CN)₆]⁴⁻ concentration of 2.30 M and 2.10 M. These represent unprecedentedly high [Fe(CN)₆]⁴⁻ concentrations and battery energy densities reported to date. Moreover, benefiting from the low cost of Li₄[Fe(CN)₆], the overall chemical cost of alkaline ZIRFB is as low as $11 per kWh, which is one-twentieth that of the state-of-the-art VFB ($211.54 per kWh). This work breaks through the limitations of traditional electrolyte composition optimization and will strongly promote the development of economical [Fe(CN)₆]^4−/3−-based RFBs in the future.     

Appealing sheath-core spun high-performance composite carbon molecular sieve membranes

Carbon molecular sieve (CMS) membranes are attractive candidates to meet requirements for challenging gas separations. The added ability to maintain such intrinsic properties in an asymmetric morphology with a structure that we term a “Pseudo Wheel+Hub & Spoke” asymmetric form offers new opportunities. For CMS membrane, specifically, the structure provides both selective layer support and low flow resistance even for high feed pressures and fluxes in CO₂ removal from natural gas. This capability is unavailable to even rigid glassy polymers due to the much higher modulus of CMS materials. Combining precursor asymmetric hollow fiber formation and optimized pyrolysis creates a defect free CMS proof-of-concept membrane for this application. Facile formation of the sheath-core spun precursor with a 6FDA-DAM sheath and Matrimid® core also avoids the need to seal defects before or after the carbonization of the precursors. The composite CMS membrane shows CO₂/CH₄ (50 : 50) mixed gas feed with an attractive CO₂/CH₄ selectivity of 64.3 and CO₂ permeance of 232 GPU at 35 °C. A key additional benefit of the approach is reduction in use of the more costly high performance 6FDA-DAM in a composite sheath-core CMS membrane with the “Pseudo Wheel+Hub & Spoke” structure.     

Purely Organic Fluorescence Afterglow: Visible-Light-Excitation,Inherent Mechanism,Tunable Color,and Practical Applications with Very Low Cost

Purely organic materials with visible light excitable fluorescence afterglow are promising for applications. Herein, fluorescence afterglow with various intensity and duration was observed on fluorescent dyes once being dispersed in polymer matrix, thanks to the slow reverse intersystem crossing rate (k_RISC) and long delayed fluorescence lifetime (τ_DF) derived from the coplanar and rigid chemical structure of the dyes. To verify the mechanism, different polymers were used to tune singlet-triplet splitting energy based on solvent effect. And commercial acriflavine (Acf) film showed blue shifted fluorescence compared to purified one, with slower k_RISC (≈10⁰ s⁻¹) and longer τ_DF (0.6 s). Via energy transfer from Acf to rhodamine B, the afterglow color was further regulated, with the largest fluorescence quantum yield of 42.4 %. It was demonstrated that the materials worked on color tunable light sources, and low-cost ($2 for 50 000 labels) anti-counterfeit labels recognized by white light.     

Back Cover: Low-Cost,High-Strength Cellulose-based Quasi-Solid Polymer Electrolyte for Solid-State Lithium-Metal Batteries (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 25/2023)

Solid-state lithium-metal batteries are considered as the next generation of high-energy-density batteries. However, their solid electrolytes suffer from low ionic conductivity, poor interface performance, and high production costs, restricting their commercial application. Herein, a low-cost cellulose acetate-based quasi-solid composite polymer electrolyte (C-CLA QPE) was developed with a high Li⁺ transference number ( ) of 0.85 and excellent interface stability. The prepared LiFePO₄ (LFP)|C-CLA QPE|Li batteries exhibited excellent cycle performance with a capacity retention of 97.7 % after 1200 cycles at 1 C and 25 °C. The experimental results and Density Function Theory (DFT) simulation revealed that the partially esterified side groups in the CLA matrix contribute to the migration of Li⁺ and enhance electrochemical stability. This work provides a promising strategy for fabricating cost-effective, stable polymer electrolytes for solid-state lithium batteries.