Developing Na metal anodes that can be deeply cycled with high efficiency for a long time is a prerequisite for rechargeable Na metal batteries to be practically useful despite their notable ...advantages in theoretical energy density and potential low cost. Their high chemical reactivity with the electrolyte and tendency for dendrite formation are two major issues limiting the reversibility of Na metal electrodes. In this work, we introduce for the first time potassium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (KTFSI) as a bifunctional electrolyte additive to stabilize Na metal electrodes, in which the TFSI− anions decompose into lithium nitride and oxynitrides to render a desirable solid electrolyte interphase layer while the K+ cations preferentially adsorb onto Na protrusions and provide electrostatic shielding to suppress dendritic deposition. Through the cooperation of the cations and anions, we have realized Na metal electrodes that can be deeply cycled at a capacity of 10 mAh cm−2 for hundreds of hours.
Working together: Through the cooperation of the cations and anions of a bifunctional electrolyte additive, potassium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, Na metal electrodes that can be deeply cycled at a capacity of 10 mAh cm−2 for hundreds of hours have been realized.
Detecting outliers is a significant problem that has been studied in various research and application areas. Researchers continue to design robust schemes to provide solutions to detect outliers ...efficiently. In this survey, we present a comprehensive and organized review of the progress of outlier detection methods from 2000 to 2019. First, we offer the fundamental concepts of outlier detection and then categorize them into different techniques from diverse outlier detection techniques, such as distance-, clustering-, density-, ensemble-, and learning-based methods. In each category, we introduce some state-of-the-art outlier detection methods and further discuss them in detail in terms of their performance. Second, we delineate their pros, cons, and challenges to provide researchers with a concise overview of each technique and recommend solutions and possible research directions. This paper gives current progress of outlier detection techniques and provides a better understanding of the different outlier detection methods. The open research issues and challenges at the end will provide researchers with a clear path for the future of outlier detection methods.
Ongoing technological advances in diverse fields including portable electronics, transportation, and green energy are often hindered by the insufficient capability of energy-storage devices. By ...taking advantage of two different electrode materials, asymmetric supercapacitors can extend their operating voltage window beyond the thermodynamic decomposition voltage of electrolytes while enabling a solution to the energy storage limitations of symmetric supercapacitors. This review provides comprehensive knowledge to this field. We first look at the essential energy-storage mechanisms and performance evaluation criteria for asymmetric supercapacitors to understand the wide-ranging research conducted in this area. Then we move to the recent progress made for the design and fabrication of electrode materials and the overall structure of asymmetric supercapacitors in different categories. We also highlight several key scientific challenges and present our perspectives on enhancing the electrochemical performance of future asymmetric supercapacitors.
The fabrication of a flexible thermoelectric (TE) device that contains flexible, all‐inorganic hybrid thin films (p‐type single‐wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs)/Sb2Te3 and n‐type reduced graphene oxide ...(RGO)/Bi2Te3) is reported. The optimized power factors of the p‐type and n‐type hybrid thin films at ambient temperature are about 55 and 108 µW m−1 K−2, respectively. The high performance of these films that are fabricated through the combination of vacuum filtration and annealing can be attributed to their planar orientation and network structure. In addition, a TE device, with 10 couples of legs, shows an output power of 23.6 µW at a temperature gradient of 70 K. A prototype of an integrated photovoltaic‐TE (PV‐TE) device demonstrates the ability to harvest low‐grade “waste” thermal energy from the human body and solar irradiation. The flexible TE and PV‐TE device have great potential in wearable energy harvesting and management.
A flexible thermoelectric generator based on all‐inorganic hybrid films of n‐type RGO/Bi2Te3 and p‐type SWCNTs/Sb2Te3 is fabricated. The prototypes of a wearable wrist band and a photovoltaic–thermoelectric integrated device are proven, which can be used for harvesting waste heat and stabilizing the photovoltaic performance.
•Inequality in urban greenspace exposure is assessed for 303 cities in China.•Dynamic inequality is characterized using multi-source geospatial data.•Severe inequality in greenspace exposure is ...pervasive in Chinese cities.•Dry cold climate and urban densification contribute to high inequality.
Given the important role of green environments playing in healthy cities, the inequality in urban greenspace exposure has aroused growing attentions. However, few comparative studies are available to quantify this phenomenon for cities with different population sizes across a country, especially for those in the developing world. Besides, commonly used inequality measures are always hindered by the conceptual simplification without accounting for human mobility in greenspace exposure assessments. To fill this knowledge gap, we leverage multi-source geospatial big data and a modified assessment framework to evaluate the inequality in urban greenspace exposure for 303 cities in China. Our findings reveal that the majority of Chinese cities are facing high inequality in greenspace exposure, with 207 cities having a Gini index larger than 0.6. Driven by the spatiotemporal variability of human distribution, the magnitude of inequality varies over different times of the day. We also find that exposure inequality is correlated with low greenspace provision with a statistical significance (p-value < 0.05). The inadequate provision may result from various factors, such as dry cold climate and urbanization patterns. Our study provides evidence and insights for central and local governments in China to implement more effective and sustainable greening programs adjusted to different local circumstances and incorporate the public participatory engagement to achieve a real balance between greenspace supply and demand for developing healthy cities.
The ability to handle large scale graph data is crucial to an increasing number of applications. Much work has been dedicated to supporting basic graph operations such as subgraph matching, ...reachability, regular expression matching, etc. In many cases, graph indices are employed to speed up query processing. Typically, most indices require either super-linear indexing time or super-linear indexing space. Unfortunately, for very large graphs, super-linear approaches are almost always infeasible. In this paper, we study the problem of subgraph matching on billion-node graphs. We present a novel algorithm that supports efficient subgraph matching for graphs deployed on a distributed memory store. Instead of relying on super-linear indices, we use efficient graph exploration and massive parallel computing for query processing. Our experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of performing subgraph matching on web-scale graph data.
A simple-to-fabricate, high-performance, wearable all-fiber triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG)-based insole composed of electrospun piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanofibers sandwiched ...between a pair of conducting fabric electrodes that effectively harvests energy during human walking is reported. The surface of the nanofibers is roughened with secondary nanostructure to enhance insole performance. The maximum output voltage, instantaneous power and output current from the insole reach 210V, 2.1mW and 45μA, respectively. The role of the piezoelectric effect in the electrospun PVDF nanofibers in this TENG-based insole is then systematically investigated. This device is shown to be a reliable power source that can be used to light up 214 serially connected light-emitting diodes directly. The soft fiber-based electric power generator demonstrated in this paper is capable of meeting the requirements of wearable devices because of its efficient energy-conversion performance, high durability, user comfort, and low cost.
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•Nanofiber with secondary nanostructures improved the TENG performance.•The piezoelectric effect of PVDF nanofibers has been systematically investigated.•Breathable nanofiber meets the user requirements of flexibility and wearability.•Conductive wearable fabrics further enhanced the output power of the TENG.
Developing fabric-based electronics with good wearability is undoubtedly an urgent demand for wearable technologies. Although the state-of-the-art fabric-based wearable devices have shown unique ...advantages in the field of e-textiles, further efforts should be made before achieving "electronic clothing" due to the hard challenge of optimally unifying both promising electrical performance and comfortability in single device. Here, we report an all-fiber tribo-ferroelectric synergistic e-textile with outstanding thermal-moisture comfortability. Owing to a tribo-ferroelectric synergistic effect introduced by ferroelectric polymer nanofibers, the maximum peak power density of the e-textile reaches 5.2 W m
under low frequency motion, which is 7 times that of the state-of-the-art breathable triboelectric textiles. Electronic nanofiber materials form hierarchical networks in the e-textile hence lead to moisture wicking, which contributes to outstanding thermal-moisture comfortability of the e-textile. The all-fiber electronics is reliable in complicated real-life situation. Therefore, it is an idea prototypical example for electronic clothing.
Abstract
Transition metal oxides (TMOs) are promising electrochromic (EC) materials for applications such as smart windows and displays, yet the challenge still exists to achieve good flexibility, ...high coloration efficiency and fast response simultaneously. MXenes (e.g. Ti
3
C
2
T
x
) and their derived TMOs (e.g. 2D TiO
2
) are good candidates for high-performance and flexible EC devices because of their 2D nature and the possibility of assembling them into loosely networked structures. Here we demonstrate flexible, fast, and high-coloration-efficiency EC devices based on self-assembled 2D TiO
2
/Ti
3
C
2
T
x
heterostructures, with the Ti
3
C
2
T
x
layer as the transparent electrode, and the 2D TiO
2
layer as the EC layer. Benefiting from the well-balanced porosity and connectivity of these assembled nanometer-thick heterostructures, they present fast and efficient ion and electron transport, as well as superior mechanical and electrochemical stability. We further demonstrate large-area flexible devices which could potentially be integrated onto curved and flexible surfaces for future ubiquitous electronics.