No abstract

Metallic Na (K) are considered a promising anode materials for Na‐metal and K‐metal batteries because of their high theoretical capacity, low electrode potential, and abundant resources. However, the uncontrolled growth of Na (K) dendrites severely damages the stability of the electrode/electrolyte interface, resulting in battery failure. Herein, a heterogeneous interface layer consisting of metal vanadium nanoparticles and sodium sulfide (potassium sulfide) is introduced on the surface of a Na (K) foil (i.e., Na2S/V/Na or K2S/V/K). Experimental studies and theoretical calculations indicate that a heterogeneous Na2S/V (K2S/V) protective layer can effectively improve Na (K)‐ion adsorption and diffusion kinetics, inhibiting the growth of Na (K) dendrites during Na (K) plating/stripping. Based on the novel design of the heterogeneous layer, the symmetric Na2S/V/Na cell displays a long lifespan of over 1000 h in a carbonate‐based electrolyte, and the K2S/V/K electrode can operate for over 1300 h at 0.5 mA cm–2 with a capacity of 0.5 mAh cm–2. Moreover, the Na full cell (Na3V2(PO4)3||Na2S/V/Na) exhibits a high energy density of 375 Wh kg–1 and a high power density of 23.5 kW kg–1. The achievements support the development of heterogeneous protective layers for other high‐energy‐density metal batteries.

The radio sky at frequencies below ~30 MHz is virtually unobservable from Earth due to ionospheric disturbances and the opaqueness of the ionosphere below ~10MHz, and also due to strong terrestrial radio interference. Deploying a radio observatory in space would open up this largely unexplored frequency band for science in astronomy, cosmology, geophysics, and space science. A Chinese-European team is proposing an ultra long wavelength (ULW) radio interferometer mission DSL (Discovering the Sky at the Longest Wavelengths). The proposed radio interferometer will be deployed in low-altitude lunar orbit, exploiting the radio quietness of the lunar far side. DSL will consist of a mother-spacecraft for data transport and control, plus eight small micro-satellites each equipped with three orthogonal dipoles. These satellites form a virtual distributed observatory with adjustable baselines, allowing different scientific observation strategies. The satellites are configured in a flexible quasi-linear array in nearly identical orbits, guaranteeing low relative drift rates. Short orbital periods and orbit precession ensure quick filling of the interferometric spatial frequency (u,v,w) space, enabling high quality imaging. The science themes considered for the DSL mission include pioneering studies of the unknown and exploratory science such as the search for signatures of the cosmological Dark Ages, complementing current (e.g. LOFAR) and future SKA telescope searches; full-sky continuum survey of discrete sources, including ultra-steep spectrum extragalactic sources, pulsars, and transients (galactic and extragalactic); full-sky map of continuum diffuse emission; solar-terrestrial physics, planetary sciences, and cosmic ray physics. The main frequency band covered is 1-30 MHz extending down to 0.1 MHz, and up to about 50 MHz for crossreferencing with ground-based instruments. DSL will support a variety of observational modes, including broad-band spectral analysis for Dark Ages, radio interferometric crosscorrelations for imaging, and flexible raw data downlink capability. Data processing will be performed at radio astronomy science data centres in Europe and China.

No abstract