Reactive Polymer as Artificial Solid Electrolyte Interface for Stable Lithium Metal Batteries

Lithium (Li) metal anodes have the highest theoretical capacity and lowest electrochemical potential making them ideal for Li metal batteries (LMBs). However, Li dendrite formation on the anode impedes the proper discharge capacity and practical cycle life of LMBs, particularly in carbonate electrolytes. Herein, we developed a reactive alternative polymer named P(St-MaI) containing carboxylic acid and cyclic ether moieties which would in situ form artificial polymeric solid electrolyte interface (SEI) with Li. This SEI can accommodate volume changes and maintain good interfacial contact. The presence of carboxylic acid and cyclic ether pendant groups greatly contribute to the induction of uniform Li ion deposition. In addition, the presence of benzyl rings makes the polymer have a certain mechanical strength and plays a key role in inhibiting the growth of Li dendrites. As a result, the symmetric Li||Li cell with P(St-MaI)@Li layer can stably cycle for over 900 h under 1 mA cm⁻² without polarization voltage increasing, while their Li||LiFePO₄ full batteries maintain high capacity retention of 96 % after 930 cycles at 1C in carbonate electrolytes. The innovative strategy of artificial SEI is broadly applicable in designing new materials to inhibit Li dendrite growth on Li metal anodes.     

Static deformation of a multilayered one-dimensional hexagonal quasicrystal plate with piezoelectric effect

Quasicrystals (QCs) are sensitive to the piezoelectric (PE) effect. This paper studies static deformation of a multilayered one-dimensional (1D) hexagonal QC plate with the PE effect. The exact closed-form solutions of the extended displacement and traction for a homogeneous piezoelectric quasicrystal (PQC) plate are derived from an eigensystem. The general solutions for multilayered PQC plates are then obtained using the propagator matrix method when mechanical and electrical loads are applied on the top surface of the plate. Numerical examples for several sandwich plates made up of PQC, PE, and QC materials are provided to show the effect of stacking sequence on phonon, phason, and electric fields under mechanical and electrical loads, which is useful in designing new composites for engineering structures.     

Nonlocal vibration and buckling of two-dimensional layered quasicrystal nanoplates embedded in an elastic medium

A mathematical model for nonlocal vibration and buckling of embedded two-dimensional(2 D) decagonal quasicrystal(QC) layered nanoplates is proposed. The Pasternak-type foundation is used to simulate the interaction between the nanoplates and the elastic medium. The exact solutions of the nonlocal vibration frequency and buckling critical load of the 2 D decagonal QC layered nanoplates are obtained by solving the eigensystem and using the propagator matrix method. The present three-dimensional(3 D) exact solution can predict correctly the nature frequencies and critical loads of the nanoplates as compared with previous thin-plate and medium-thick-plate theories.Numerical examples are provided to display the effects of the quasiperiodic direction,length-to-width ratio, thickness of the nanoplates, nonlocal parameter, stacking sequence,and medium elasticity on the vibration frequency and critical buckling load of the 2 D decagonal QC nanoplates. The results show that the effects of the quasiperiodic direction on the vibration frequency and critical buckling load depend on the length-to-width ratio of the nanoplates. The thickness of the nanoplate and the elasticity of the surrounding medium can be adjusted for optimal frequency and critical buckling load of the nanoplate.This feature is useful since the frequency and critical buckling load of the 2 D decagonal QCs as coating materials of plate structures can now be tuned as one desire.