Simple Strategy Research Articles

Type I Porous Liquids with Super-Low Viscosities: the Construction through a Rather Simple One-Step Covalent Linkage Strategy and Its Facile Regulation by a Mixed-Ligand Strategy.

Porous liquids (PLs) are a novel class of flowing liquid systems that possess accessible permanent porosity, exhibiting great prospects in gas capture and separation. Nevertheless, the further development of PLs lies in the facile synthesis and regulation of PLs with low viscosities. Herein, a novel strategy of preparing type I PLs with super-low viscosity is proposed through a simple one-step covalent linkage reaction using UiO-66-NH2 as the pore generator and monoglycidyl ether terminated polydimethylsiloxane (E-PDMS) as the sterically hindered solvent, respectively. More importantly, the idea that PLs can be regulated like advanced porous materials (APMs) is proposed and demonstrated, that is, PLs can be regulated by modulating pore generators with the mixed-ligands method. As expected, the resultant PLs not only demonstrate a promising potential in CO2 sorption as a flowing sorbent but also exhibit a superior CO2/N2 selective separation. Meanwhile, positron annihilation lifetime spectrum (PALS) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations further verify the accessible permanent porosity and the favorable CO2 selective sorption. This work provides a simple and facile method to prepare type I PLs with super-low viscosities, shedding light on the precise regulation of PLs toward task-specific applications.

Molecular Programming Design of Glyconucleic Acid Aptamer with High Stability.

Functional nucleic acids (FNAs), possessing specific biological functions beyond their informational roles, have gained widespread attention in disease therapeutics. However, their clinical application is severely limited by their low serum stability in complex physiological environments. In this work, a precise molecular programming strategy is explored to prepare glyconucleic acid aptamers (GNAAs) with high serum stability. Four glyconucleic acid modules compatible with commercial solid-phase synthesis are designed and synthesized. Through precise molecular design, the accurate modification of four different carbohydrate ligands at specific sites of DNA aptamers is achieved. It is demonstrated that glycosylation modification can significantly increase DNA aptamers' serum stability while maintaining their structures and high affinity. The stabilization effect is superior to that of currently commonly used commercial chemical modifications. Moreover, it is confirmed that this approach displays insignificant effects on the DNA aptamers' tumor-targeting ability and metabolism in vivo. This method offers a simple, economical, and efficient strategy for precise glycosylation modification of nucleic acids. This allows to prepare glycosyl functional nucleic acids with high serum stability, which can expand the application scope of functional nucleic acids and promote the practical transformation of functional nucleic acids.

Mechanically Twisting-Induced Top-Down Chirality Transfer for Tunable Full-Color Circularly Polarized Luminescent Fibers.

Circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) materials with rich optical information are highly attractive for optical display, information storage, and encryption. Although previous investigations have shown that external force fields can induce CPL activity in nonchiral systems, the unique role of macroscopic external forces in inducing CPL has not been demonstrated at the level of molecule or molecular aggregate. Here, a canonical example of CPL generation by mechanical twisting in an achiral system consisting of a polymer matrix with embedded fluorescent molecules is presented. By carefully adjusting the twisting parameters in time and space, in conjunction with circular dichroism (CD), CPL, and 2D wide-angle X-ray scattering (2D WAXS) studies, a twisting-induced top-down chiral transfer mechanism derived from the molecular-level asymmetric rearrangement of fluorescent units is elucidated within polymers under external torsional forces. This top-down chiral transfer provides a simple, scalable, and versatile mechanical twisting strategy for the fabrication of CPL materials, allowing for fabricating full-color and handedness-tunable CPL fibers, where the macroscopic twist direction determines the CPL handedness. Moreover, the weavability of CPL fibers greatly extend their applications in anti-counterfeit encryption, as demonstrated by using embroidery techniques to design multilevel encryption patterns.

Dynamic Time-Programming Circuit for Encoding Information, Programming Dissipative Systems, and Delaying Release of Cargo.

Living systems have some of the most sophisticated reaction circuits in the world, realizing many incredibly complex functions through a variety of simple molecular reactions, in which the most notable feature that distinguishes them from artificial molecular reaction networks is the precise control of reaction times and programmable expression. Here, we exploit the hydrolysis-directed nature of λ exonuclease and the programmed responses of the dynamic nanotechnology of nucleic acids to construct a simple, complete, and powerful set of temporally programmed circuits. This system can arbitrarily regulate the degradation rate of the blocker, thereby delaying the nucleic acid chain substitution reaction with less signal leakage. In addition, the powerful dynamic reaction network of nucleic acids enabled us to control the programmed execution of a wide range of reactions in different fields. We have developed a simple strategy to introduce precise control of the time dimension into nucleic acid reaction circuits, which greatly enriches the functionality and applicability of the reaction programs, which can be easily used as timers, compilers, converters, etc. The simplicity, precision, stability, and versatility of such dynamic temporal programming circuits greatly expand the potential of artificial molecular reaction networks for more complex practical applications in biochemistry and molecular biology.

Scourge of replacing contemporary work environment with artificial intelligence (AI-dark-side): the role of capacity development in quality of work-life and organisational performance

Purpose The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) which operates through technology and digital workspace has proven to transform organisations in recent times. However, there has been key concern over its efficiency among the workforce on how it may replace human intelligence in the contemporary work environment. This study aims to investigate the drawbacks otherwise known as the dark side of AI and its effect on employee quality of work−life and organisational performance through the lens of employee capacity development in reducing its shortcomings. Design/methodology/approach This study used a descriptive research design using a cross-sectional survey approach to administer the research instrument to 1,847 customer service officers of banks, customer agents of telecoms, customer care of retail organisations in Nigeria business environment across various units were respondents of this study, however, 862 participants were finally used. A simple random strategy was used to survey the study participants, and existing scales were adopted to form a new research instrument. A partial least square (PLS) based structural equation model (SEM) was adapted to analyse the collected data from the respondents. Findings The outcome of the study indicated that AI lacks creativity and has a negative impact on both employee quality of work−life and overall organisational performance. The outcome of the study demonstrated the drawbacks and the dark sides of AI as lack of emotional intelligence, lack of in-depth contextual knowledge, over-reliance on data quality and lack of ethical and moral decision analysis are the possible dark side of AI which adversely affect quality of work−life and overall performance of the organisations. The study concluded that it is difficult to replace human intelligence because of AI’s drawbacks and dark side. AI cannot function effectively beyond what is programmed in the system. Originality/value This study has offered a novel trajectory against the efficiency and possible benefits of AI that people are familiar with. It has changed the understanding of the researchers, policymakers and organisations that AI cannot replace human intelligence in the workplace without improvement on those established AI dark sides.

NaCl-Responsive Ultrashort Peptide to Trigger Self-Assembly of TPE-Capped Supramolecular Hydrogelator.

With the advantages of less invasiveness and better shape adaptability, in situ-forming hydrogels are desired biomaterials as scaffolds, drug carriers, and so on. Herein, a negatively charged NaCl-responsive ultrashort peptide sequence (EEH) is reported whose electrostatic repulsion can be reduced through the charge-shielding effect. Under physiological conditions, its AIEgen-capped amphiphile TPE-GEEH of low concentration (1 mg/mL) presents NaCl-triggered morphological transformation from micelle to closely packed fiber with enhanced emission, which can be applied to biosense sodium ion (Na+) with high sensitivity and quick response. At a slightly acidic pH, 10 mg/mL TPE-GEEH undergoes sol-gel transition upon addition of NaCl (100 mM) with improved mechanical properties, which should be useful to develop an in situ-forming hydrogel. Overall, our report provides a simple strategy to construct NaCl-responsive assemblies for potential application in biosensors and drug delivery system.

Rapid release of high-valent silver ions from water-soluble porphyrin complexes to enhance the direct killing of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

The emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria represented by MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) poses a great challenge to current anti-infection treatment. It is critical to develop efficient MRSA anti-bacteria drugs and explore simple therapeutic strategies with low MDR risk. Herein, we synthesized high-valent (AgII/AgIII) water-soluble porphyrins (cationic AgTMPyP and anionic AgTMPPS) and investigated their direct bactericidal property for MRSA without photoactivation in vitro and in vivo. The cationic porphyrin AgTMPyP exhibits well oxidase-like activity and has 100% sterilizing rate at 8 μmol/L concentration. Besides, AgTMPyP can effectively destroy biofilms in vitro, mediate the polarization of macrophages from M1 to M2, and promote wound healing in vivo. Combined with DFT calculation, the related antibacterial mechanism is further discussed. High-valent silverporphyrins can maintain stable in water for at least 200 days. The moment they encounter MRSA, high-valent silver ions from AgTMPyP can be immediately released from the porphyrin ring and attack the MRSA with efficient sterilization. Together with the hemolysis, blood routine and blood biochemistry tests, it is proved that AgTMPyP can have great prospects in the direct treatment of bacterial infections in skin diseases in the future. Statement of significance: The emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria represented by MRSA poses a great challenge to current anti-infection treatment. It has become critical to develop efficient MRSA anti-bacteria drugs and explore simple therapeutic strategies with low MDR risk. We synthesized high-valent (AgII/AgIII) water-soluble silver porphyrins (AgTMPyP and AgTMPPS), which can be stable for long periods in aqueous solutions. AgTMPyP can directly and efficiently kill bacteria and destroy biofilms without photoactivation in vitro and in vivo. Combined with DFT calculation, the related antibacterial mechanism is further discussed. AgTMPyP is a superior antimicrobial agent with good biocompatibility and it can have great prospects in the direct treatment of bacterial infections and wound healing in the future.

Oleogel formation based on natural insoluble soybean fiber using capillary force: A novel strategy and application

Insoluble dietary fibers can be used as oleogelators to form oleogels via molecular self-assembly following chemical modification. However, the limitations of traditional chemical modifications and oleogel preparation methods significantly restrict their practical application. This study proposed a novel method to directly form edible oleogels using natural soybean insoluble fiber particles as oil-forming agents and water as a secondary fluid via the capillary suspension force between particles. The results showed that when the particle fraction was 15 % and the secondary fluid content was 0.2, a strong capillary suspension force could be formed to maintain the oil holding capacity of oleogels. The sedimentation coefficient analysis showed that adding particles and secondary fluids significantly affected the oleogel stability. The polarity of the oils, as well as the ionic strength and pH of the secondary fluids, influenced the rheological properties of oleogels, which correlated with the interfacial tension between the secondary fluids and oils. Moreover, the stable oleogels showed their potential as excellent solid fat substitutes in the preparation of breads (specific volume = 2.029 ± 0.114 cm3/g, weight loss = 12.2 ± 2.6 %, and hardness = 3.321 ± 0.055 N). This study highlighted that insoluble dietary fiber can form oleogels via capillary suspension, which is a relatively rapid and simple strategy. Additionally, it provided a solid foundation for the comprehensive utilization of soybean processing byproducts and the transformation of traditional food-specific oils and fats.

Facile growth of a heteroepitaxial layer on perovskite oxide surfaces for active and durable fuel cell cathodes

Polycrystalline perovskite oxide particles are promising candidates for cathode materials in solid oxide fuel cells. However, their limited activity and stability pose significant challenges for practical applications. In this study, we demonstrate a novel approach to achieve both high activity and durability in a PrBaCo2O5+δ catalyst through a simple epitaxial layer growth strategy. We found that an amorphous precursor of the highly durable catalyst SmBa0.5Ca0.5CoCuO5+δ can spontaneously adhere to the surface of PrBaCo2O5+δ particles. Upon heat treatment, it grows along the perovskite lattice, forming a heteroepitaxial layer with just a few atomic layers thickness. This heterostructure enhances the operational stability of PrBaCo2O5+δ transforming a 78% decrease over 100 h into a 7% increase. After 100 h, the power output density of the cell with the modified sample is more than 500% higher than that of unmodified PrBaCo2O5+δ. This work presents a new strategy for fabricating heteroepitaxial layers on polycrystalline ceramic catalysts and introduces a pioneering approach for developing high-performance oxygen reduction catalysts and related materials.

Enhanced electrocatalytic performance and exceptional durability facilitate the effective degradation of m-dinitrobenzene wastewaters utilizing a novel SS/PbO2-Y2O3-SiC electrode

The intrinsic toxicity of m-dinitrobenzene (m-DNB) to human health and the environment has made dealing with m-DNB pollution a major concern. Herein, a novel hydrophobic anodic electrode SS/PbO2-Y2O3-SiC doped with Y and SiC was constructed via a simple electrodeposition strategy for efficient degradation of m-DNB. With a dense-uniform structure and hydrophobic surface, such SS/PbO2-Y2O3-SiC electrode exhibits obviously lower activation energy (8.17kJmol−1) and charge transfer resistance (1.15 Ω cm2), higher electrochemical active area (46.14 cm2) and stability (359 d), in comparison to SS/PbO2. The m-DNB removal efficiency of the as-prepared SS/PbO2-Y2O3-SiC anode was significantly increased to 96.4% in 180minutes, and the degradation reaction-order was determined to be 0.9559, which was in accordance with the quasi-first-order reaction kinetics. These are the possible degradation pathways of m-DNB under the action of both cathodic and anodic reactions, according to the GC-MS results. The -NO2 group of m-DNB was first reduced to the -NH2 group at the cathode surface, and then the m-phenylenediamine generated at the cathode was sequentially oxidised by the hydroxyl radicals generated from the anodic electrochemical process, resulting in the generation of H2O and CO2 at the anode surface. Additionally, the Assessment Software Tool (TEST) shows that the SS/PbO2-Y2O3-SiC anode can effectively reduce the risk and harm of m-DNB to the overall environment. This study offers novel perspectives on the development of a highly efficient PbO2 electrode for the degradation of m-DNB pollutants.

Global Context Volume construction and semantics-guided disparity refinement for stereo matching

The accuracy of stereo matching has been greatly improved with the advent of convolutional neural networks. However, existing methods still perform poorly in regions of low-texture and reflections due to insufficient matching information. In this paper, we propose a novel semantic stereo matching network named GSSNet, which combines global context information with high-level semantic clues to further enrich the matching features. Specifically, we employ Swin Transformer as a joint feature extractor to capture multi-scale global features for both semantic segmentation and disparity estimation. By fusing low-resolution multi-scale feature maps progressively, we construct a Global Context Volume (GCV) representation covering long-range receptive field for initial disparity estimation. Initial disparities are further refined with a high-level embedding learned from the semantic segmentation branch of the network through residual learning. During training, due to the lack of joint annotations, we also propose a simple and effective pseudo-labeling strategy. Comprehensive experimental results demonstrated on various datasets manifest the effectiveness of the proposed GSSNet. Among all published methods as of 9, February 2024, our approach ranks 1st on KITTI 2012 leaderboard and 3rd on KITTI 2015 leaderboard, and produces competitive results on Scene Flow and Cityscapes datasets. Code will be available at https://github.com/Twil-7/GSSNet.

Meta surface Assisted Open radio access networks

The paradigm of the open radio access networks (O-RAN) seeks to carry intelligence and openness (multi-vendors) to the conventional proprietary and closed radio access networks (RAN) schemes and deliver performance enhancement, cost-efficiency, and flexibility, in both the network's operation and deployment. On the other hand, Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS) are suggested for future networks due to their effectiveness in terms of cost and energy consumption. However, due to the fast time-varying feature of the dense wireless systems, it becomes difficult to allow optimal user association and beamforming in terms of signalling overheads and processing in RIS assisted RANs with the limited capacity of the fronthaul. Therefore, the objective of this study is to attain a trade-off between the costs (signalling overhead/complexity) and the throughput performance. In other words, the study sets the challenges of the RIS aided O-RAN technology regarding the joint selection of user’s equipment (UEs)/open radio unit (O-RU)-RIS pairs and the designing of beamforming at the O-RU/RIS and open distributed unit (O-DU). From this point, to addressing the designing challenges, this work suggests a simple and potential beamforming strategy in RIS aided O-RAN architecture taking into account the specification of the interfaces between different O-RAN units to split opportunities between the radio and distributing units. In specific, a channel-gain-based selection of UEs/O-RU-RIS pairs joint with duality theory (DT) and transform of quadratic function (TQF) algorithm (namely DT_TQF) is proposed. Firstly, the non-convex optimization problem is relaxed via duality and transform of quadratic functions, and then an iterative approach is carried out for the active and passive beamformers via a simple alternating optimization approach. This approach can achieve flexibility in the environment of a high-traffic transmission while lowering the interference between radio units and the signalling burden required for beamforming tasks. Numerical simulation results justify the effectiveness of the algorithm for different systems' parameter settings and validate the important of installing RIS. For example, for a certain environment, the performance gain is about 52.9 % in comparison to the classic null-steering/random phase shifter scheme.

Electronic structure modulation and peroxymonosulfate activation mechanism of N-doped MnCo2O4: A study on the efficient catalytic degradation of sulfamethoxazole

In this study, a nitrogen-doped MnCo2O4 composite material (nN-MCO) was successfully synthesized via a urea-assisted thermal treatment method and applied for the activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) to degrade sulfamethoxazole (SMX). By introducing metal-N (M−N) bonds, the concentration of oxygen vacancies on the catalyst surface and its electron transfer capability with PMS were significantly enhanced. Experimental characterizations demonstrated that nitrogen doping not only strengthened the covalency of the metal-O (M−O) bonds but also facilitated the formation of electron-rich metal sites through electronic rearrangement, further improving the adsorption and activation of PMS. The 2 N-MCO catalyst successfully degraded 98.0 % of SMX within 5 min and maintained a removal efficiency of 85.0 % after four consecutive cycles. The study revealed that 1O2, SO4−, OH and O2− were all involved in the degradation of SMX, with 1O2 identified as the dominant reactive oxygen species. This work presents a simple and effective nitrogen-doping strategy for surface modification of spinel-based catalysts, enhancing the MnCo2O4 composite’s electronic structure, strengthening metal–oxygen bonds, and creating electron-rich sites. These modifications promote oxygen vacancies, improve electron transfer, and enable efficient reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, offering valuable insights and theoretical support for PMS-based oxidation processes in pollutant treatment.

One-pot chemobiological cascade strategy for synthesizing furyl hydroxymethyl ketone from corncob

Furyl hydroxymethyl ketone (FHK) is essential in synthesizing pharmaceuticals and biologically active molecules. However, green and sustainable methods for synthesizing FHK from renewable feedstocks remain challenging. This research proposed a simple one-pot chemobiocatalytic cascade strategy for effectually transforming renewable biomass into FHK via solid acid catalysis and whole-cells hydroxymethylation. Using whole-cells (SMPDC cells) containing pyruvate decarboxylase and small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) fusion tag as biocatalysts, non-natural substrates furfural and formaldehyde were introduced into a C-C ligation bioreaction, establishing a biocatalytic pathway for FHK synthesis. SMPDC cells exhibited excellent biocatalytic activity and high tolerance to high furfural concentrations (up to 200mM), a well-known effective microbial inhibitor. Optimal reaction conditions were identified, enabling the manufacturing of FHK from corncob- and D-xylose-derived furfural with productivities of 0.12g FHK/(1g corncob + 0.09g HCHO) and 0.39g FHK/(1g D-xylose + 0.28g HCHO), respectively. This strategy demonstrated the potential for synthesizing valuable chemicals from low-cost biomass, providing a sustainable alternative to traditional chemical synthesis.

An image analysis-based method to determine the vanadium electrolyte contents during the capacity recovery process with a facile chemical oxidation strategy

Repairing and regenerating the unbalanced electrolytes is critical for the long-term operation of vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs). In this work, we propose a simple strategy to repair the unbalanced electrolytes for capacity recovery through chemical oxidation with the V(V) electrolyte and develop a method based on image analysis to obtain the electrolytes’ V(IV) ion contents. When the V(V) electrolyte with the same concentration as that of the unbalanced electrolyte is added to the unbalanced electrolyte, V(V) ions gradually oxidize V(III) ions to V(IV) ions, and the color of the electrolyte changes significantly. By extracting the RGB information of the electrolyte image, it is found that the B channel value presents the highest sensitivity to the V(IV) ion content. Thus, the relationship between them is fitted, and the R2 of the fitted curve reaches 0.9978. Furthermore, the image analysis-based method is applied to predict the V(V) electrolyte volumes needed to repair the unbalanced electrolytes. Results show that the deviation of the B channel values between the recovered and standard V(IV) electrolytes is within 5%, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed repair strategy and image analysis-based method, which show great promise for practical VRFB applications.

Ternary metal oxide carbon composite as high-performance electrode material for supercapacitor applications

Recently, ternary metal oxides carbon composites recognized as metal organic frameworks (MOFs) have gained striking attention for supercapacitor electrode material due to high surface area, porosity, chemical stability, tunable properties, redox activity, and eco-friendly material. ZIF-67 is a novel MOF possessing these characteristics. Therefore, the present work reports the development of ternary iron-nickel–cobalt ZIF-67 composites (FeNiCo ZIF-67) using co-precipitation method with the variation in molar concentration of iron oxide, nickel oxide, and cobalt oxide. Physico-chemical characterizations of developed materials were investigated through X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to confirm the successful formation of composites and structure, morphology. Then, the electrodes were fabricated for all three synthesized composites and electrochemical analyses such as cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanic charge–discharge (GCD), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were performed. The results revealed the porous polyhedral structure of FeNiCo ZIF-67 with different compositions consisting of interconnected nanoparticles played an important role in increasing the charge storage capacity of the material. Among the composites, FeNiCo ZIF-67 (1:2:1) electrode material achieved the highest specific capacitance of 532.7 F/g at a current density of 1 A/g. FeNiCo ZIF-67 (1:2:1) exhibited maximum electrochemical active surface area 89.12. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) demonstrated the minimal resistance of 7.8 Ω by FeNiCo ZIF-67 (1:2:1) composite electrode compared to the other two electrode materials. Cyclic stability study revealed the capacitance retention of 91 % after 10,000 continuous charge discharge cycles at a current density of 10 A/g. Electrode material demonstrated an outstanding electrochemical performance, and this work could provide a simple strategy to fabricate FeNiCo ZIF-67 nanostructured electrode materials for supercapacitors.

A simple strategy to significantly improve the anticorrosion and aging resistance of epoxy coatings by adding polyaniline modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes

Epoxy coatings are widely used for corrosion protection of metals, but under extremely harsh environments, the epoxy polymer chains such as the C-O bonds of epoxy ether and aromatic ether, and the -OH in the epoxy chain structure can also undergo aging and degradation, leading to the failure of the coating in service. How to extend the anti-aging capability of epoxy resins while maintaining their other properties unchanged has become a major challenge in the practical application of epoxy coatings. In this study, the polyaniline (PANI) modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT@PANI) were synthesized by polymerization in-situ and added to epoxy resin as an anti-aging filler. The various measurements have been adopted to characterize the composition and structure of MWCNT@PANI, and the anticorrosive performance of the composite coating for carbon steel were evaluated via salt spray, chemical aging and UV light aging. Results showed that the impedance value of the blank epoxy coating decreases by at least two orders of magnitude after the salt spray tests, and the contact angle decreases by about 30° and gradually changes from hydrophobic to hydrophilic, indicating a significant decline in corrosion resistance. In contrast, the composite coating confirmed the excellent anti-aging performance, while the impedance values increased by approximately 2-5 orders of magnitude compared to that in blank epoxy coatings, and remained around 1010 Ω·cm2. Given the dense encapsulation of MWCNT@PANI, the dispersion stability between the filler and EP can be improved, and the effective corrosion resistance performance was also supported by molecular dynamic simulation. Besides that, the ability of free radical quenching along with the labyrinth effect and hydrophobic interaction have also been investigated to explain the anticorrosion and anti-aging mechanism.

Aluminum/steel dissimilar material with high interfacial strength manufactured by additive friction stir deposition

Dissimilar metallic materials find broad applications owing to the possibility of integrating multiple functions. However, the joining interface is a vulnerable site for failure in service. The design of high-strength bonding of dissimilar materials has been urgently needed. This study showed that a combination of additive friction stir deposition coupled with post-processing annealing enables the formation of a continuous Mg/O-enriched amorphous layer dotted with nano-rivet structures at the aluminum (Al)/steel interface. As a result, a high bonding strength (138.1 MPa) of Al/steel was achieved. We clarify the formation of discontinuous nano-rivet intermetallic compounds thanks to the AFSD-induced severe plastic deformation and local chemical reaction upon annealing, and we demonstrate the highest bonding strength is achieved at the size of nano-rivet compounds of ~200 nm and the aspect ratio ~ 0.5. Our findings provide a simple but versatile strategy to reverse the adverse effects of intermetallic compounds on the interface strength of dissimilar materials.

2,2-Dimethylvinylboronic acid as an effective solid electrolyte interface formation additive for high performance sodium ion batteries

The main challenges brought by the unstable solid electrolyte interface (SEI) film seriously hinder the practical application of sodium ion batteries (SIBs). Herein, 2,2-dimethylvinylboronic acid (DEBA) is used as a film-forming electrolyte additive to improve the stability of the interface between the hard carbon (HC) and electrolyte for SIBs, naming the resulting electrode HCD-DEBA. DEBA is preferentially decomposed before the electrolyte and involved in forming SEI. Besides, in the cycling process, the C=C bonds in DEBA undergo the in-situ polymerization to construct the polymer skeleton of the SEI, inducing forming a thinner solid electrolyte interface layer with lower interface impedance, thus enhancing cycling stability. The optimized HCD-2%DEBA exhibits a first-cycle discharge specific capacity of 332.5 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C, while the HCD is 329.6 mAh g−1. HCD-2% DEBA was able to cycle 5000 times at a high rate of 5 C with capacities ranging from 195.7 mAh g−1 to 110.4 mAh g−1, however, the one without DEBA died after about 2000 cycles with an initial discharge capacity of 83.6 mAh g−1. This work provides a simple strategy for improving the cycle capacity of hard carbon half-cells and constructing the solid electrolyte interphase.

Dealloying-induced Mn-enhancing nanoporous Fe-based spinel oxides as stable electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction and rechargeable zinc-air battery

The dealloying-induced method is an effective strategy for the construction of low-cost, highly stable nanoporous catalysts. Herein, spinel oxides with nanoporous architecture are successfully constructed by dealloying of Al85Fe15-xMnx (x = 0, 1 and 3 at.%) parent alloy with different Mn dosages. These D-Al85Fe15-xMnx samples exhibit nanoporous and graphene-like edge architecture formed by the vertical staggered arrangement of nanosheets. The dealloyed samples possess high specific surface areas of 43.08–96.56 m2 g−1. As oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts in alkaline solution, the catalytic performance of the as-fabricated D-Al85Fe15-xMnx is positively related to the Mn doping proportion. The half-wave potential (E1/2) and Tafel slope are in the range of 0.688–0.712 V vs. RHE and 88.0–93.9 mV dec-1, respectively. The D-Al85Fe12Mn3 catalyst with the optimal catalytic performance shows excellent durability, and E1/2 has no significant variety after 2000 cycles accelerating degradation test (ADT). The zinc-air battery (ZAB) utilizing D-Al85Fe12Mn3 as the cathode catalyst exhibits a power density of 85.2 mW cm−2 and a high specific discharge capacity of 782 mAh g-1. The ZAB also has superb cyclic charge/discharge durability, which can work stably for more than 250 h at a constant current density of 5 mA cm−2. The reason for enhanced ORR performance after adding Mn is proposed, which is associated to the fact that Mn can increase the occupancy of B3+ in Oh interstices. This work highlights a simple strategy for constructing nanoporous spinel-based catalysts by dealloying-induced method as a promising candidate for ORR and ZAB cathode catalyst applications.