Sluggish reaction kinetics and severe shuttling effect of lithium polysulfides seriously hinder the development of lithium‐sulfur batteries. Heterostructures, due to unique properties, have ...congenital advantages that are difficult to be achieved by single‐component materials in regulating lithium polysulfides by efficient catalysis and strong adsorption to solve the problems of poor reaction kinetics and serious shuttling effect of lithium‐sulfur batteries. In this review, the principles of heterostructures expediting lithium polysulfides conversion and anchoring lithium polysulfides are detailedly analyzed, and the application of heterostructures as sulfur host, interlayer, and separator modifier to improve the performance of lithium‐sulfur batteries is systematically reviewed. Finally, the problems that need to be solved in the future study and application of heterostructures in lithium‐sulfur batteries are prospected. This review will provide a valuable reference for the development of heterostructures in advanced lithium‐sulfur batteries.
Heterostructures could regulate lithium polysulfides by efficient catalysis and strong adsorption to solve the problems of poor reaction kinetics and serious shuttling effect of lithium‐sulfur batteries. This review systematically and detailedly analyzes the principle and the application of heterostructures as sulfur host, interlayer, and separator modifier to promote the performance of lithium‐sulfur batteries.
Carbon electrode are a low‐cost and great potential strategy for stable perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, the efficiency of carbon‐based PSCs lags far behind compared with that of ...state‐of‐the‐art PSCs. The poor interface contact between the carbon electrode and the underlying layer dominates the performance loss of the reported carbon‐based PSCs. In this respect, a sort of self‐adhesive macroporous carbon film is developed as counter electrode by a room‐temperature solvent‐exchange method. Via a simple press transfer technique, the carbon film can form excellent interface contact with the underlying hole transporting layer, remarkably beneficial to interface charge transfer. A power conversion efficiency of up to 19.2% is obtained for mesoporous‐structure PSCs, which is the best achieved for carbon‐based PSCs. Moreover, the device exhibits greatly improved long‐term stability. It retains over 95% of the initial efficiency after 1000 h storage under ambient atmosphere. Furthermore, after aging for 80 h under illumination and maximum power point in nitrogen atmosphere, the carbon‐based PSC retains over 94% of its initial performance.
A sort of macroporous carbon electrodes for perovskite solar cells is developed via solvent‐exchange process. The carbon electrode possesses excellent flexibility, compressibility, and self‐adhesion. It can form an extremely strong interface contact with hole transporting layer, notably beneficial to interface charge transfer. Consequentially, the macroporous carbon electrode affords gratifying device performance and durability.
The efficiencies of the hybrid organic–inorganic perovskite solar cells have been rapidly approaching the benchmarks held by the leading thin‐film photovoltaic technologies. Arguably, one of the most ...important factors leading to this rapid advancement is the ability to manipulate the microstructure of the perovskite layer and the adjacent functional layers within the device. Here, an analysis of the nucleation and growth models relevant to the formation of perovskite films is provided, along with the effect of the perovskite microstructure (grain sizes and voids) on device performance. In addition, the effect of a compact or mesoporous electron‐transport‐layer (ETL) microstructure on the perovskite film formation and the optical/photoelectric properties at the ETL/perovskite interface are overviewed. Insight into the formation of the functional layers within a perovskite solar cell is provided, and potential avenues for further development of the perovskite microstructure are identified.
The performance of perovskite solar cells is greatly affected by the microstructure of the functional layers, especially that of the perovskite film. By controlling the nucleation and crystal growth process, desirable microstructures (grains and voids size) of the perovskite films, such as dense films with large grains, can be achieved for high‐efficiency solar cells.
Owning to their very high theoretical capacity, lithium metal anodes are expected to fuel the extensive practical applications in portable electronics and electric vehicles. However, unstable solid ...electrolyte interphase and lithium dendrite growth during lithium plating/stripping induce poor safety, low Coulombic efficiency, and short span life of lithium metal batteries. Lately, varies of micro/nanostructured lithium metal anodes are proposed to address these issues in lithium metal batteries. With the unique surface, pore, and connecting structures of different nanomaterials, lithium plating/stripping processes have been regulated. Thus the electrochemical properties and lithium morphologies have been significantly improved. These micro/nanostructured lithium metal anodes shed new light on the future applications for lithium metal batteries.
Micro/nanostructured lithium metal anodes are proposed to retard the formation of lithium dendrites in lithium metal batteries. With the unique surface, pore, and connecting structures of different nanomaterials, lithium plating/stripping processes have been modulated. The electrochemical properties and lithium morphologies have been significantly regulated.
To achieve high‐performance perovskite solar cells, especially with mesoscopic cell structure, the design of the electron transport layer (ETL) is of paramount importance. Highly branched anatase ...TiO2 nanowires (ATNWs) with varied orientation are grown via a facile one‐step hydrothermal process on a transparent conducting oxide substrate. These films show good coverage with optimization obtained by controlling the hydrothermal reaction time. A homogeneous methylammonium lead iodide (CH3NH3PbI3) perovskite thin film is deposited onto these ATNW films forming a bilayer architecture comprising of a CH3NH3PbI3 sensitized ATNW bottom layer and a CH3NH3PbI3 capping layer. The formation, grain size, and uniformity of the perovskite crystals strongly depend on the degree of surface coverage and the thickness of the ATNW film. Solar cells constructed using the optimized ATNW thin films (220 nm in thickness) yield power conversion efficiencies up to 14.2% with a short‐circuit photocurrent density of 20.32 mA cm−2, an open‐circuit photovoltage of 993 mV, and a fill factor of 0.70. The dendritic ETL and additional perovskite capping layer efficiently capture light and thus exhibit a superior light harvesting efficiency. The ATNW film is an effective hole‐blocking layer and efficient electron transport medium for excellent charge separation and collection within the cells.
A facile solution‐based route to fabricate thin films of dendritic anatase TiO2nanowires on TCO substrates is developed. Solar cells containing the perovskite‐infiltrated nanowire layer and uniform perovskite capping layer yield impressive power conversion efficiencies (>14%) due to efficient light harvesting and charge collection in the bilayer structure.
Severe dendrite growth and high‐level activity of the lithium metal anode lead to a short life span and poor safety, seriously hindering the practical applications of lithium metal batteries. With a ...trisalt electrolyte design, an F‐/N‐containing inorganics–rich solid electrolyte interphase on a lithium anode is constructed, which is electrochemically and thermally stable over long‐term cycles and safety abuse conditions. As a result, its Coulombic efficiency can be maintained over 98.98% for 400 cycles. An 85.0% capacity can be retained for coin‐type full cells with a 3.14 mAh cm−2 LiNi0.5Co0.2Mn0.3O2 cathode after 200 cycles and 1.0 Ah pouch‐type full cells with a 4.0 mAh cm−2 cathode after 72 cycles. During the thermal runaway tests of a cycled 1.0 Ah pouch cell, the onset and triggering temperatures were increased from 70.8 °C and 117.4 °C to 100.6 °C and 153.1 °C, respectively, indicating a greatly enhanced safety performance. This work gives novel insights into electrolyte and interface design, potentially paving the way for high‐energy‐density, long‐life‐span, and thermally safe lithium metal batteries.
An F‐/N‐containing inorganics‐rich solid electrolyte interphase is constructed, which is electrochemically and thermally stable during the long‐term cycles and safety abuse conditions. More than 6 times longer cycles compared with routine cells are achieved in 1.0 Ah pouch‐type cells. The onset and triggering temperatures during the thermal runaway are increased from 70.8 and 117.4 to 100.6 and 153.1 °C, respectively.
Stability issues and high material cost constitute the biggest obstacles of a perovskite solar cell (PVSC), hampering its sustainable development. Herein, we demonstrate that, after suitable surface ...modification, the low-cost cerium oxide (CeO x ) nanocrystals can be well dispersed in both polar and nonpolar solvents and easily processed into high-quality electron transport layers (ETLs). The inverted PVSC with the configuration of “NiMgLiO/MAPbI3/6,6-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM)/CeO x ” has achieved a high efficiency up to 18.7%. Especially, the corresponding devices without encapsulation can almost keep their initial PCEs in 30% humidity-controlled air in the dark for 30 days and also show no sign of degradation after continuous light soaking and maximum power point tracking for 200 h in a N2 atmosphere. These results have been proved to be associated with the dual functions achieved by the PCBM/CeO x bilayer ETLs in both efficient electron extraction and good chemical shielding. Furthermore, an all inorganic interfacial layer based PVSC with the configuration of “NiMgLiO/MAPbI3/CeO x ” has also achieved a promising efficiency of 16.7%, reflecting the potential to fabricate efficient PVSCs with extremely low cost.
One‐lung ventilation (OLV), a common ventilation technique, is associated with perioperative lung injury, tightly connected with inflammatory responses. Dexmedetomidine has shown positive ...anti‐inflammatory effects in lung tissues in pre‐clinical models. This study investigated the efficacy of dexmedetomidine for suppressing inflammatory responses in patients requiring OLV. We searched PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, Ovid, and Cochrane Library for randomized controlled trials focusing on dexmedetomidine’s anti‐inflammatory effects on patients requiring OLV without any limitation on the year of publication or languages. 20 clinical trials were assessed with 870 patients in the dexmedetomidine group and 844 in the control group. Our meta‐analysis investigated the anti‐inflammatory property of dexmedetomidine perioperatively T1 (30‐min OLV), T2 (90‐min OLV), T3 (end of surgery) and T4 (postoperative day 1), demonstrating that dexmedetomidine’s intraoperative administration resulted in a significant reduction in serum concentration of interleukin‐6, tumor necrosis factor‐α and other inflammatory cytokines perioperatively. By calculating specific I2 index, significant heterogeneity was observed on all occasions, with I2 index ranging from 95% to 99%. For IL‐6 changes, sensitivity analysis showed that the exclusion of a single study led to a significant decrease of heterogeneity (96%–0%; p < 0.00001). Besides, pulmonary oxygenation was ameliorated in the dexmedetomidine group comparing with the control group. In conclusion, perioperative administration of dexmedetomidine can attenuate OLV induced inflammation, ameliorate pulmonary oxygenation, and may be conducive to a decreased occurrence of postoperative complications and better prognosis. However, the results should be prudently interpreted due to the evidence of heterogeneity and the limited number of studies.
The microphase separation of polyurethane is the result of thermodynamic incompatibility between the hard and soft segments, which plays a significant role in its micro structure and performance. In ...recent years, many researches about the microphase separation of polyurethane have been reported. However, there is a gap in summarizing the recent advances in the characterization methods and applications about it. To fill in this gap, this paper carefully compared and analyzed the characterization methods of the microphase separation such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Dynamic thermomechanical analyzer (DMA), Atomic force microscopy (AFM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). Moreover, applicaitions of the microphase separated polyurethane in shape memory, water resistance, and gas separation are also discussed in detail.
•The paper systematically compared and analyzed the characterization methods of the polyurethane microphase separation.•Influences of the microphase separation on the physical properties are discussed in detail.•The relationship betwwen the microphase separation and hydrogen bond is summarized.
Intravesical administration of first‐line drugs has shown failure in the treatment of bladder cancer owing to the poor tumor retention time of chemotherapeutics. Herein, we report an intracellular ...hydrolytic condensation (IHC) system to construct long‐term retentive nano‐drug depots in situ, wherein sustained drug release results in highly efficient suppression of bladder cancer. Briefly, the designed doxorubicin (Dox)‐silane conjugates self‐assemble into silane‐based prodrug nanoparticles, which condense into silicon particle‐based nano‐drug depots inside tumor cells. Significantly, we demonstrate that the IHC system possesses highly potent antitumor efficacy, which leads to the regression and eradication of large established tumors and simultaneously extends the overall survival of air pouch bladder cancer mice compared with that of mice treated with Dox. The concept of intracellular hydrolytic condensation can be extended via conjugating other chemotherapeutic drugs, which may facilitate rational design of novel nanomedicines for augmentation of chemotherapy.
An intracellular hydrolytic condensation (IHC) system to construct long‐term retentive nano‐drug depots in situ is presented. Based on silicon particles, the nano‐drug depots are capable of sustained drug release, which results in highly efficient suppression of bladder cancer.
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