A novel, high-capacity oil sorbent consisting of polyvinyl chloride (PVC)/polystyrene (PS) fiber was prepared by an electrospinning process. The sorption capacity, oil/water selectivity, and sorption mechanism of the PVC/PS sorbent were studied. The results showed that the sorption capacities of the PVC/PS sorbent for motor oil, peanut oil, diesel, and ethylene glycol were 146, 119, 38, and 81 g/g, respectively. It was about 5-9 times that of a commercial polypropylene (PP) sorbent. The PVC/PS sorbent also had excellent oil/water selectivity (about 1000 times) and high buoyancy in the cleanup of oil over water. The SEM analysis indicated that voids among fibers were the key for the high capacity. The electrospun PVC/PS sorbent is a better alternative to the widely used PP sorbent for oil spill cleanup.

In this article, carbon black nanofluids were prepared by dispersing the pretreated carbon black powder into distilled water. The size and morphology of the nanoparticles were explored. The photothermal properties, optical properties, rheological behaviors, and thermal conductivities of the nanofluids were also investigated. The results showed that the nanofluids of high-volume fraction had better photothermal properties. Both carbon black powder and nanofluids had good absorption in the whole wavelength ranging from 200 to 2,500 nm. The nanofluids exhibited a shear thinning behavior. The shear viscosity increased with the increasing volume fraction and decreased with the increasing temperature at the same shear rate. The thermal conductivity of carbon black nanofluids increased with the increase of volume fraction and temperature. Carbon black nanofluids had good absorption ability of solar energy and can effectively enhance the solar absorption efficiency.

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CuS hollow spheres were quickly synthesized under mild conditions with spherical aggregates of Cu(2)O nanoparticles as sacrificial templates. The mechanism involved in the synthesis process has been studied using transmission electron microscopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermal gravimetry, and Fourier transform infrared spectra. The results show that the formation of loose aggregates of Cu(2)O nanoparticles is the key to the fast synthesis of hollow spheres at low temperature. The thickness of the shell can be controlled easily by adjusting the aggregation degree of the Cu(2)O nanoparticles.

The structure and components of solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) is crucial to direct the growth of lithium particles. However, it is hard to have control over them. Herein, an SEI that shares the properties of Li2CO3‐rich and LiF‐rich types is realized by using different fluorine phenylphospines, and constructing a Li2CO3/LiF‐rich heterostructured SEI by using tris(4‐fluorophenyl)phosphine (TFPP) as the electrolyte additive. The well‐balanced SEI formed in TFPP‐containing electrolyte has the fast Li+ transport kinetics of Li2CO3, good electron insulator capability of LiF, and strong affinity toward Li+. It can effectively guarantee fast, uniform Li+ flux through the SEI while preventing electrons from the Li anode entering into SEI, and thus realizes uniform and dense Li deposition at the SEI/Li interface. As expected, the Li anode with TFPP‐containing electrolyte achieves a stable Li plating/stripping over 400 h at 1mA cm−2 while the full cell with a high‐voltage LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 cathode also enables long‐term stability with a capacity retention (87.8% after 200 cycles) at 0.1 A g−1 and excellent rate performance.