Recent progress and prospects of rare earth elements for advanced aqueous zinc batteries

Abstract

Rare earth elements, from lanthanum to lutetium, are chemical elements of Group IIIA in the chemical periodic table with unique properties. Exploring the application of rare earth elements in the...

An aqueous rechargeable copper ammonium hybrid battery with good cycling performance

“…1–5 In recent years, substantial research attention has been concentrated on post-lithium-ion batteries, for instance, alkali - and alkaline-Earth metal ion - batteries. 6–11 Among them, batteries utilizing nonmetallic ammonium (NH 4 + ) ions as the charge carrier have become increasingly attractive, owing to the sufficient reserves for synthesis, low molar mass (18 g mol −1 ) and the relatively small hydrated ionic radius (3.31 Å), which is conducive to its fast diffusion in aqueous electrolytes. 12–17 Additionally, aqueous solutions of NH 4 + are low cost, intrinsically safe, and environmentally benign.…”

Expanding the Library: Twenty New Ln(III) Metal–Organic Frameworks, Including Two Isoreticular Pairs, from Dihaloterephthalic Acid

“…For example, there are only 149 reported structures with lanthanides and halogenated terephthalates in the CSD. With the growing global demand for lanthanide materials for use in phosphors for television and phone screens, control rods for nuclear reactors, biomedical diagnostic tools, − hydrogen storage, − carbon dioxide sequestration, − and battery materials, , just to name a few, there is a real opportunity to expand the library of lanthanide-based compounds with halogenated ligands. These libraries are important for the discovery of functional materials since they permit the systematic study of Ln(III) compounds with halogenated ligands to derive useful trends that can inform crystal engineering or the deliberate manipulation of building blocks to form targeted materials with tailored properties.…”

A multifunctional protective layer filled with 2D anionic nanosheets enabling a dendrite-free zinc anode

“…An ideal artificial protective layer must meet those criteria, including high ionic conductivity, excellent mechanical properties, good adhesion to zinc metal surfaces and high electrochemical stability. 15,16 Coating solid state polymers on zinc surfaces is an effective way to block H 2 O and dissolved O 2 and protect zinc from corrosion, such as polyacrylonitrile (PAN), 17 polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), 18 polyvinyl butyral (PVB), 19 polyamide (PA), 20 etc. However, polymer coatings may prolong the ion transport path, increase impedance and result in inhomogeneous deposition.In order to overcome the drawbacks of polymer layers, researchers have recently developed polymer/inorganic composites as protective layers to inhibit dendrite growth, in which CaCO 3 , 21 TiO 2 , 22,23 ZrO 2 , 24 kaolin, 25 Si 3 N 4 , 26 NaTi 2 (PO 4 ) 3 , 27 etc.…”