ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.

No abstract

Aqueous rechargeable zinc‐metal‐based batteries are an attractive alternative to lithium‐ion batteries for grid‐scale energy‐storage systems because of their high specific capacity, low cost, eco‐friendliness, and nonflammability. However, uncontrollable zinc dendrite growth limits the cycle life by piercing the separator, resulting in low zinc utilization in both alkaline and mild/neutral electrolytes. Herein, a polyacrylonitrile coating layer on a zinc anode produced by a simple drop coating approach to address the dendrite issue is reported. The coating layer not only improves the hydrophilicity of the zinc anode but also regulates zinc‐ion transport, consequently facilitating the uniform deposition of zinc ions to avoid dendrite formation. A symmetrical cell with the polymer‐coating‐layer‐modified Zn anode displays dendrite‐free plating/stripping with a long cycle lifespan (>1100 h), much better than that of the bare Zn anode. The modified zinc anode coupled with a Mn‐doped V2O5 cathode forms a stable rechargeable full battery. This method is a facile and feasible way to solve the zinc dendrite problem for rechargeable aqueous zinc‐metal batteries, providing a solid basis for application of aqueous rechargeable Zn batteries.

Seven new metabolites, 3‐hydroxy‐1‐(2,6‐dihydroxyphenyl)butan‐1‐one (1), 1‐(2‐hydroxy‐6‐methoxyphenyl)butan‐1‐one (3), 2,3‐dihydro‐5‐methoxy‐2‐methylchromen‐4‐one (6), the dimeric naphthalenes nodulisporin A (9) and B (10), and the first naturally occurring dimeric indanone, nodulisporin C (12), as well as (4E,6E)‐2,4,6‐trimethylocta‐4,6‐dien‐3‐one (13) were isolated together with ten known compounds (2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 14–17) from the culture extract of the endophytic fungus Nodulisporium sp. from Juniperus cedre from Gomera Island. The structure of dictafolin‐A, previously erroneously assigned as structure 6, is not identical with 2,3‐dihydro‐5‐methoxy‐2‐methylchromen‐4‐one, isolated in this investigation. The structures of new compounds were determined by spectroscopic methods (mainly extensive 1D and 2D NMR experiments and mass spectral measurements) and X‐ray single crystal analysis. All but one of the thirteen tested compounds exhibit herbicidal, antifungal and/or antibacterial activities. (© Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2006)

Enery storage is a vital issue to be solved for the efficient utilization of renewable energies such as solar, wind and tidal energy. In terms of rechargeable battery energy storage,...