Wettability, a fundamental property of porous surface, occupies a pivotal position in the fields of enhanced oil recovery, organic contaminant adsorption and oil/water separation. In this review, ...wettability and the related applications are systematically expounded from the perspectives of hydrophilicity, hydrophobicity and super-wettability. Four common measurement methods are generalized and categorized into contact angle method and ratio method, and influencing factors (temperature, the type and layer charge of matrix, the species and structure of modifier) as well as their corresponding altering methods (inorganic, organic and thermal modification etc.) of wettability are overviewed. Different roles of wettability alteration in enhanced oil recovery, organic contaminant adsorption as well as oil/water separation are summarized. Among these applications, firstly, the hydrophilic alteration plays a key role in recovery of the oil production process; secondly, hydrophobic circumstance of surface drives the organic pollutant adsorption more effectually; finally, super-wetting property of matrix ensures the high-efficient separation of oil from water. This review also identifies importance, challenges and future prospects of wettability alteration, and as a result, furnishes the essential guidance for selection and design inspiration of the wettability modification, and supports the further development of pore wettability application.
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•Pore wettability is reviewed from factors, modifications and applications in detail.•Hydrophilic alteration of the matrix is beneficial for the enhanced oil recovery.•Hydrophobic surface provides a favorable environment for contaminant adsorption.•Super-wetting property of material makes the oil/water separation implementation.
The electrode/electrolyte interface plays a critical role in stabilizing the cycling performance and prolonging the service life of rechargeable batteries to meet the sustainable energy requirements ...of the mobile society. The understanding of interfaces is still at the preliminary stage due to the limited research techniques and variable properties with time and potential. Herein, the latest developments focused on the interfaces in rechargeable systems including the cathode electrolyte interphase (CEI) and solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) are reviewed. The possible formation mechanisms of the electrode/electrolyte interface are discussed, followed by the introduction of two key influencing factors, specific adsorption and solvated coordinate structure, which will dominate the formation of the interface. Finally, the structure and chemical composition of the interface as well as the possible transport mechanism of lithium ions in the interface and the strategies to regulate the pathway through the interface are presented in detail. This work sheds light on the fundamental understanding of the interface and provides rational scientific principles in designing the electrode/electrolyte interface and inspires the rational design of long‐term cycling rechargeable batteries.
The electrode/electrolyte interface plays a critical role in stabilizing the cycling performance and prolonging the service life of rechargeable batteries. This work discusses the formation mechanism of the interface and summarizes the progress in the structure/composition modulation of the interface toward advanced battery systems.
Lithium (Li) metal anodes hold great promise for next‐generation high‐energy‐density batteries, while the insufficient fundamental understanding of the complex solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) is ...the major obstacle for the full demonstration of their potential in working batteries. The characteristics of SEI highly depend on the inner solvation structure of lithium ions (Li+). Herein, we clarify the critical significance of cosolvent properties on both Li+ solvation structure and the SEI formation on working Li metal anodes. Non‐solvating and low‐dielectricity (NL) cosolvents intrinsically enhance the interaction between anion and Li+ by affording a low dielectric environment. The abundant positively charged anion–cation aggregates generated as the introduction of NL cosolvents are preferentially brought to the negatively charged Li anode surface, inducing an anion‐derived inorganic‐rich SEI. A solvent diagram is further built to illustrate that a solvent with both proper relative binding energy toward Li+ and dielectric constant is suitable as NL cosolvent.
The introduction of cosolvents with non‐solvating and low‐dielectricity (NL) properties can intrinsically enhance the interaction between anion and Li+ and regulate the solvation structures in electrolytes, which favors an upgraded anion‐derived solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) on lithium metal anodes.
The persistent efforts to reveal the formation and evolution mechanisms of solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) are of fundamental significance for the rational regulation. In this work, through ...combined theoretical and experimental model investigations, we elucidate that the electric double layer (EDL) chemistry at the electrode/electrolyte interface beyond the thermodynamic stability of electrolyte components predominately controls the competitive reduction reactions during SEI construction on Li metal anode. Specifically, the negatively‐charged surface of Li metal will prompt substantial cation enrichment and anion deficiency within the EDL. Necessarily, only the species participating in the solvation shell of cations could be electrostatically accumulated in proximity of Li metal surface and thereafter be preferentially reduced during sustained dynamic cycling. Incorporating multi‐valent cation additives to more effectively drag the favorable anionic SEI enablers into EDL is validated as a promising strategy to upgrade the Li protection performance. The conclusions drawn herein afford deeper understandings to bridge the EDL principle, cation solvation, and SEI formation, shedding fresh light on the targeted regulation of reactive alkali metal interfaces.
The electric double layer chemistry and structure are identified to play a predominate role in governing the competitive reactions during solid electrolyte interphase formation on lithium‐metal anodes. This knowledge affords critical guidance on the targeted interface design to enable a stable working lithium anode.
Conjugated polymers usually form crystallized and amorphous regions in the solid state simultaneously, making it difficult to accurately determine their precise microstructures. The lack of ...multiscale microstructures of conjugated polymers limits the fundamental understanding of the structure–property relationships in polymer‐based optoelectronic devices. Here, crystals of two typical conjugated polymers based on four‐fluorinated benzodifurandione‐based oligo(p‐phenylene vinylene) (F4BDOPV) and naphthalenediimide (NDI) motifs, respectively, are obtained by a controlled self‐assembly process. The strong diffractivity of the polymer crystals brings an opportunity to determine the crystal structures by combining X‐ray techniques and molecular simulations. The precise polymer packing structures are useful as initial models to evaluate the charge transport properties in the ordered and disordered phases. Compared to the spin‐coated thin films, the highly oriented polymer chains in crystals endow higher mobilities with a lower hopping energy barrier. Microwire crystal transistors of F4BDOPV‐ and NDI‐based polymers exhibit high electron mobilities of up to 5.58 and 2.56 cm2 V−1 s−1, respectively, which are among the highest values in polymer crystals. This work presents a simple method to obtain polymer crystals and their precise microstructures, promoting a deep understanding of molecular packing and charge transport for conjugated polymers.
Conjugated polymer microwire crystals are obtained from solvated aggregates. The precise crystal packing and electronic structure in the polymer microwires are evaluated for understanding of the charge transport properties. Polymer crystal transistors of F4BDOPV‐2T exhibit higher electron mobilities of up to 5.58 cm2 V−1 s−1 with a much lower hopping energy barrier compared with conventional thin‐film transistors.
Wire and arc additive manufacturing (WAAM), recognized for its capability to fabricate large-scale, complex parts, stands out due to its significant deposition rates and cost-effectiveness, ...positioning it as a forward-looking manufacturing method. In this research, we employed two welding currents to produce samples of 316 austenitic stainless steel utilizing the Cold Metal Transfer wire arc additive manufacturing process (CMT-WAAM). This study initially evaluated the maximum allowable arc travel speed (MAWFS) and the formation characteristics of the deposition bead, considering deposition currents that vary between 100 A and175 A in both CMT and CMT pulse(CMT+P) modes. Thereafter, the effect of the CMT+P mode arc on the microstructure evolution was analyzed using the EBSD technique. The findings indicate that the arc travel speed and deposition current significantly affect the deposition bead's dimensions. Specifically, an increase in travel speed or a reduction in current results in reduced bead width and height. Moreover, the employment of the CMT+P arc mode led to a reduction in the average grain size in the mid-section of the sample fabricated by CMT arc and wire additive manufacturing, from 13.426 μm to 9.429 μm. Therefore, the components of 316 stainless steel produced through the CMT+P-WAAM method are considered fit for industrial applications.
Lithium (Li) metal has been considered a promising anode for next‐generation high‐energy‐density batteries. However, the low reversibility and intricate Li loss hinder the widespread implementation ...of Li metal batteries. Herein, we quantitatively differentiate the dynamic evolution of inactive Li, and decipher the fundamental interplay among dynamic Li loss, electrolyte chemistry, and the structure of the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). The actual dominant form in inactive Li loss is practically determined by the relative growth rates of dead Li0 and SEI Li+ because of the persistent evolution of the Li metal interface during cycling. Distinct inactive Li evolution scenarios are disclosed by ingeniously tuning the inorganic anion‐derived SEI chemistry with a low amount of film‐forming additive. An optimal polymeric film enabler of 1,3‐dioxolane is demonstrated to derive a highly uniform multilayer SEI and decreased SEI Li+/dead Li0 growth rates, thus achieving enhanced Li cycling reversibility.
The fundamental interplay among Li dynamic loss behavior, electrolyte composition, and the structure of the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer was quantitatively elucidated. The actual dominant form in inactive Li loss is determined by the relative growth rates of dead Li0 and SEI Li+ as the anode interface undergoes processive evolution during cycling. The mechanistic studies shed fresh light on the interfacial dynamics of the Li‐metal anode.
Abstract
N-doping plays an irreplaceable role in controlling the electron concentration of organic semiconductors thus to improve performance of organic semiconductor devices. However, compared with ...many mature p-doping methods, n-doping of organic semiconductor is still of challenges. In particular, dopant stability/processability, counterion-semiconductor immiscibility and doping induced microstructure non-uniformity have restricted the application of n-doping in high-performance devices. Here, we report a computer-assisted screening approach to rationally design of a triaminomethane-type dopant, which exhibit extremely high stability and strong hydride donating property due to its thermally activated doping mechanism. This triaminomethane derivative shows excellent counterion-semiconductor miscibility (counter cations stay with the polymer side chains), high doping efficiency and uniformity. By using triaminomethane, we realize a record n-type conductivity of up to 21 S cm
−1
and power factors as high as 51 μW m
−1
K
−2
even in films with thicknesses over 10 μm, and we demonstrate the first reported all-polymer thermoelectric generator.
Extreme fast charging (XFC) of high‐energy Li‐ion batteries is a key enabler of electrified transportation. While previous studies mainly focused on improving Li ion mass transport in electrodes and ...electrolytes, the limitations of charge transfer across electrode–electrolyte interfaces remain underexplored. Herein we unravel how charge transfer kinetics dictates the fast rechargeability of Li‐ion cells. Li ion transfer across the cathode–electrolyte interface is found to be rate‐limiting during XFC, but the charge transfer energy barrier at both the cathode and anode have to be reduced simultaneously to prevent Li plating, which is achieved through electrolyte engineering. By unlocking charge transfer limitations, 184 Wh kg−1 pouch cells demonstrate stable XFC (10‐min charge to 80 %) which is otherwise unachievable, and the lifetime of 245 Wh kg−1 21700 cells is quintupled during fast charging (25‐min charge to 80 %).
Extreme fast charging of high‐energy Li‐ion batteries is achieved by simultaneously reducing the anode and cathode charge transfer energy barriers through electrolyte engineering. Ah‐level commercial cells demonstrate rapid charging from 0 to 80 % state of charge (SOC) within 10 to 25 minutes.
Reversible lithium (Li) plating/stripping is essential for building practical high‐energy‐density batteries based on Li metal chemistry, which unfortunately remains a severe challenge. In this ...contribution, it is demonstrated that through the rational regulation of strong Li+−anion coordination structures in a highly compatible low‐polarity solvent, 2‐methyl tetrahydrofuran, the Li plating/stripping assisted by a nucleation modulation procedure delivers a remarkably high average Coulombic efficiency under rather demanding conditions (99.7% and 99.5% under 1.0 mA cm−2, 3.0 mAh cm−2 and 3.0 mA cm−2, 3.0 mAh cm−2, respectively). The exceedingly reversible cycling obtained herein is fundamentally correlated with the flattened Li deposition and minimized solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) generation/reconstruction in the customized condition, which notably restrains the growth rates of both dead Li0 (0.0120 mAh per cycle) and SEI‐Li+ (0.0191 mAh per cycle) during consecutive cycles. Benefiting from the efficient Li plating/stripping manner, the assembled anode‐free Cu|LiFePO4 (2.7 mAh cm−2) coin and pouch cells exhibit impressive capacity retention of 43.8% and 41.6% after 150 cycles, respectively, albeit with no optimization on the test conditions. This work provides guidelines into the targeted interfacial design of high‐efficiency working Li anodes, aiming to pave the way for the practical deployment of high‐energy‐density Li metal batteries.
A viable methodology is proposed to build highly reversible Li metal anodes by carefully designing the interface, which concurrently contributes to flattened Li deposition and minimizes inactive Li growth rates. Anode‐free coin and pouch cells are further assembled to demonstrate the profound significance of anode Coulombic efficiency on the capacity retention of full cells.
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