Progress of Phosphate-based Polyanion Cathodes for Aqueous Rechargeable Zinc Batteries

Aqueous rechargeable zinc batteries (ARZBs) are recently prevailing devices that utilize the abundant Zn resources and the merits of aqueous electrolytes to become a competitive alternative for large-scale energy storage. Benefiting from the unique inductive effect and flexible structure, the past five years have experienced a diversiform of phosphate-based polyanion materials that are used as cathodes in ARZBs. In this review, the most recent advances in the Zn²⁺ storage mechanisms and electrolyte optimization of the phosphate-based cathodes of ARZBs, which mainly focus on vanadium/iron-based phosphates and their derivatives are presented. Furthermore, in addition to significant progress on polyanion phosphate-based cathode materials, the design strategies both for electrode materials and compatible electrolytes are also elaborated to improve the energy density and extend the cycling life of aqueous Zn/polyanion batteries.     

Carbon Black-Supported Single-Atom Co?N?C as an Efficient Oxygen Reduction Electrocatalyst for H2O2 Production in Acidic Media and Microbial Fuel Cell in Neutral Media

Single metal atom isolated in nitrogen-doped carbon materials (M N C) are effective electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), which produces H₂O₂ or H₂O via 2-electron or 4-electron process. However, most of M N C catalysts can only present high selectivity for one product, and the selectivity is usually regulated by complicated structure design. Herein, a carbon black-supported Co N C catalyst (CB@Co N C) is synthesized. Tunable 2-electron/4-electron behavior is realized on CB@Co-N-C by utilizing its H₂O₂ yield dependence on electrolyte pH and catalyst loading. In acidic media with low catalyst loading, CB@Co N C presents excellent mass activity and high selectivity for H₂O₂ production. In flow cell with gas diffusion electrode, a H₂O₂ production rate of 5.04 mol h⁻¹ g⁻¹ is achieved by CB@Co N C on electrolyte circulation mode, and a long-term H₂O₂ production of 200 h is demonstrated on electrolyte non-circulation mode. Meanwhile, CB@Co N C exhibits a dominant 4-electron ORR pathway with high activity and durability in pH neutral media with high catalyst loading. The microbial fuel cell using CB@Co N C as the cathode catalyst shows a peak power density close to that of benchmark Pt/C catalyst.     

Balancing MXene Surface Termination and Interlayer Spacing Enables Superior Microwave Absorption

Surface chemistry and interlayer engineering determines the electrical properties of 2D MXene. However, it remains challenging to regulate the surface and interfacial chemistry of MXene simultaneously. Herein, simultaneous modulation of Ti₃C₂T_x MXene surface termination and layer spacing by alkali treatment are achieved. The electrical and electromagnetic properties of Ti₃C₂T_x are investigated in detail with respect to KOH and ammonia concentration dependence. A high concentration of KOH caused the Ti₃C₂T_x layer spacing to expand to 13.7 Å and the surface O/F ratio to increase to 33.84. Because of its weaker ionization effect, ammonia provides finer tuning compared to the drastic intercalation of KOH with a thorough sweeping of the F-containing groups. Ti₃C₂T_x is enriched with conductive -OH termination after ammonia treatment, which achieves an effective balance with the increased interlayer resistance. Therefore, NH₃H₂O-Ti₃C₂T_x achieves broad-band impedance matching and exhibits an efficient microwave loss of −49.1 dB at a low thickness of 1.7 mm, with an effective frequency bandwidth of 3.9 GHz. The results herein optimize the electrical properties of Ti₃C₂T_x using surface and interfacial chemistry to achieve broad microwave absorption, providing a framework for enhancing the electromagnetic wave loss of intrinsic MXene.     

Mimosa-Inspired High-Sensitive and Multi-Responsive Starch Actuators

Artificial intelligent actuators are extensively explored for emerging applications such as soft robots, human-machine interfaces, and biomedical devices. However, intelligent actuating systems based on synthesized polymers suffer from challenges in renewability, sustainability, and safety, while natural polymer-based actuators show limited capabilities and performances due to the presence of abundant hydrogen-bond lockers. Here this study reports a new hydrogen bond-mediated strategy to develop mimosa-inspired starch actuators (SA). By harnessing the unique features of gelatinization and abundant hydrogen bonds, these SA enable high-sensitivity and multi-responsive actuation in various scenarios. The non-gelatinized SA can be irreversibly programmed into diverse shapes, such as artificial flowers, bowl shapes, and helix structures, using near-infrared light. Furthermore, the gelatinized SA exhibit reversibly multi-responsive actuation when exposed to low humidity (10.2%), low temperature (37 °C), or low-energy light (0.42 W cm⁻²). More importantly, the SA demonstrate robust applications in smart living, including artificial mimosa, intelligent lampshade, and morphing food. By overcoming the hydrogen-bond lockers inherent in natural polymers, SA open new avenues for next-generation recyclable materials and actuators, bringing them closer to practical applications.