Lithium-CO 2 batteries are attractive energy storage systems for fulfilling the demand of future large-scale applications such as electric vehicles due to their high specific energy density compared to lithium-ion batteries. However, a major challenge with Li-CO 2 batteries is attaining reversible formation and decomposition of the Li 2 CO 3 and carbon discharge products, along with a lack of mechanistic understanding of the associated charge and discharge reaction mechanisms. In this study, we developed a fully reversible Li-CO 2 battery with overall carbon neutrality using molybdenum disulfide nanoflakes as a cathode catalyst combined with an ionic liquid and dimethyl sulfoxide hybrid electrolyte. This combination of materials produces a multicomponent composite (Li 2 CO 3 /C) product rather than formation of separated carbon and Li 2 CO 3 nanoparticles. The battery shows a superior long cycle life of 500 for a fixed 500 mAh/g capacity per cycle, which is by far the best cycling stability reported in Li-CO 2 batteries, respectively. The long cycle life demonstrates for the first time that covalent CO bond making and breaking chemical transformations can be used in energy storage systems, in addition to the widely studied alkali metal (Li, Na, K)-oxygen ionic-bond making and breaking transformations. Theoretical calculations are used to deduce a mechanism for the reversible discharge/charge processes and explain how the carbon interface with Li 2 CO 3 provides the electronic conduction needed for the oxidation of Li 2 CO 3 , as well as the carbon to generate the CO 2 on charge. The achievement of a reversible, long cycle life Li-CO 2 battery opens the way for use of CO 2 in advanced energy storage systems. Lithium-ion batteries are widely used as electrochemical energy storage systems for consumer electronics [1] ; however, technologies with higher specific energy are needed for electrified transportation applications [2]. Therefore, beyond Li-ion battery chemistries such as rechargeable Li-O 2 batteries have recently garnered much attention This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. 3 due to their higher theoretical energy density [3,4]. Li-O 2 batteries generally have limited cyclability, though several studies have reported new concepts that have achieved long cycle life [5,6]. Although far less studied, the Li-CO 2 battery is another beyond Li-ion technology with a theoretical energy density of 1876 Wh/kg [7,8] , far exceeding that of Li-ion batteries (~265 Wh/kg). This type of battery involves CO 2 reduction and evolution reactions during discharge and charge, respectively, on the surface of a porous cathode with an electrolyte based on lithium salts.

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Transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDCs) alloys could provide a wide range of physical and chemical properties, ranging from charge density waves to superconductivity and electrochemical activities. While many exciting behaviors of unary TMDCs have been predicted, the vast compositional space of TMDC alloys has remained largely unexplored due to our lack in understanding of their stability when accommodating different cations or chalcogens in a single-phase. Here, we report a theory-guided synthesis approach to achieve unexplored quasi-binary TMDC alloys through computationally predicted stability maps. We have generated equilibrium temperature-composition phase diagrams using first-principles calculations to identify the stability for 25 quasi-binary TMDC alloys, including those involving non-isovalent cations and verify them experimentally by synthesizing a subset of 12 predicted alloys using a scalable chemical vapor transport method. We demonstrate that the synthesized alloys can be exfoliated into 2D structures, and some of them exhibit: (i) outstanding thermal stability tested up to 1230 K, (ii) exceptionally high electrochemical activity for CO 2 reduction reaction in a kinetically limited regime with near zero overpotential for CO formation, (iii) excellent energy efficiency in a high rate Li-air battery, and (iv) high break-down current density for interconnect applications. This framework can be extended to accelerate the discovery of other TMDC alloys for various applications.As a class of 2D materials, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) display diverse physical properties, including topological insulator properties, [1,2] superconductivity, [3][4][5][6] valley polarization, [7][8][9][10] and enhanced electrocatalytic activity for various chemical reactions. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] This diversity arises due to the ability of TMDCs to accommodate different transition-metal elements, such as Mo, W, V, Nb, Ta, Re and others, with the three chalcogens (S, Se, and Te) in stable layered structures -that can be exfoliated to a desired number of 2D layers to control quantum confinement. Their properties can be further tuned

Essential oil from fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) (FM) was tested as corrosion inhibitor of carbon steel in 1 M HCl using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), Tafel polarisation methods and weight loss measurements. The results show that the increase of the charge-transfer resistance (R ct ) with the oil concentration supports the molecules of oil adsorption on the metallic surface. The polarization plots reveal that the addition of natural oil shifts the cathodic and anodic branches towards lower currents. Such shifts indicate that FM oil acts as a mixed-type inhibitor. The global rate of corrosion estimated by weight loss measurements confirms the above results. The inhibition efficiency attains a maximum of 76 % at 3 mL/L, but decreases with the rise of temperature. The analysis of FM oil, obtained by hydro-distillation, using Gas Chromatography (GC) and Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) showed that the major components were limonene (20.8 %) and β-pinene (17.8%). The adsorption of FM on the steel surface has been discussed according to the chemical composition of the oil, giving an explanation to the obtained results.

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