The bias of Ni–Zn batteries between practical applications with gravimetrical limits and scientific research with volumetrical shortages has been corrected.

No abstract

Zn-based aqueous batteries are enjoying the hotspots of worldwide research as their significant merits in economic cost and safety. However, the lack of a robust cathode (positive electrode) owning excellent rate ability, high capacity, and stability challenges their practical application. Herein, we propose hierarchical NiSe 2 nanosheet arrays as a robust cathode toward high-performance Ni−Zn aqueous batteries. Attributed to in situ anion exchange and Kirkendall effects, the nanosheet arrays are hierarchically constructed by NiSe 2 nanoparticles and abundant mesopores, which fully expose the active sites and accelerate the electrode kinetics. This unique structure endows the NiSe 2 electrode with remarkable specific capacity (245.1 mAh g −1 ) and extraordinary high-rate ability (maintains 58% at 72.8 A g −1 ) together with 10,000 cycles without any obvious capacity degeneration. As a result, based on the total active weight, our NiSe 2 //Zn battery is capable of record-high power density (91.22 kW kg −1 /639.1 mW cm −2 ), imposing energy density (328.8 Wh kg −1 /2.303 mWh cm −2 ), and ultralong lifespan (only 8.3% capacity loss after 10,000 cycles), surpassing most of the aqueous batteries and supercapacitors recently reported. Moreover, this NiSe 2 //Zn battery is also affordable (US$40 per kWh) and safe. These results open a new avenue for developing superdurable and ultrafast high-energy Ni−Zn batteries toward affordable and practical energy storage.

Vernalization is required for floral initiation in Dendrobium. Interestingly, those beneficial effects can also be achieved by exogenous cytokinin application in greenhouses. Thus, an as yet unknown crosstalk/interaction may exist between vernalization and cytokinin signaling pathways. In this study, we showed, by de novo transcriptome assembly using RNA-seq data from both vegetative and reproductive tissue samples, that some floral transition-related genes—DnVRN1, FT, SOC1, LFY and AP1—were differentially expressed in low-temperature-challenged (LT) or thidiazuron (TDZ)-treated plants, compared to those mock-treated (CK). Both LT and TDZ upregulated SOC1, LFY and AP1, while the upregulation of DnVRN1 and FT was only LT-induced. We further found that LT promoted the upregulation of some key cytokinin signaling regulators, including several cytokinin biosynthesis-related genes and type-B response regulator (RR)-encoding genes, and that both LT and TDZ triggered the significant upregulation of some marker genes in the gibberellin (GA) signaling pathway, indicating an important low temperature-cytokinin-GA axis in flowering. Our data thus have revealed a cytokinin-GA signal network underlying vernalization, providing a novel insight into further investigation of the molecular mechanism of floral initiation in Dendrobium.