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Among post-lithium ion battery technologies, rechargeable chemistries with Zn anodes bear notable technological promise owing to their high theoretical energy density, lower manufacturing cost, availability of raw materials and inherent safety. However, Zn anodes, when employed in aqueous electrolytes, suffer from hydrogen evolution, passivation, and shape changes. Alternative electrolytes can help tackle these issues, preserving the green and safe characteristics of aqueous-based ones. Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are promising green and low-cost non-aqueous solvents for battery electrolytes. Specifically, the cycling of Zn anodes in DESs is expected to be reversible, chiefly owing to their dendrite-suppression capability. Nevertheless, apart from a few studies on Zn plating, insight into the cathodic–anodic electrochemistry of Zn in DESs is still very limited. In view of developing DES-based battery electrolytes, it is crucial to consider that a potential drawback might be their low ionic conductivity. Water molecules can be added to the eutectic mixtures by up to 40% to increase the diffusion coefficient of the electroactive species and lower the electrolyte viscosity without destroying the eutectic nature. In this study, we address the electrochemistry of Zn in two different hydrated DESs (ChU and ChEG with ~30% H2O). Fundamental electrokinetic and electrocrystallization studies based on cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry at different cathodic substrates are completed with a galvanostatic cycling test of Zn|Zn symmetric CR2032 coin cells, SEM imaging of electrodes and in situ SERS spectroscopy. This investigation concludes with the proposal of a specific DES/H2O/ZnSO4-based electrolyte that exhibits optimal functional performance, rationalized on the basis of fundamental electrochemical data, morphology evaluation and modeling of the cycling response.

While alkaline Zn batteries, like traditional rechargeable aqueous batteries, boast an advantage in terms of energy density, their progress has been hampered by concerns related to the anode. These concerns include issues like Zn dendrites, self‐corrosion, passivation, shape change, and the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). To tackle these challenges, we have introduced a nanostructuring approach for the anode, employing carbon‐coated ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO@C) as the active material. In this study, we synthesized ZnO@C nanoparticles in an environmentally sustainable and scalable manner to address passivation and dissolution issues jointly. Nanoscale ZnO particles effectively prevent passivation, while carbon shell slows down the dissolution of zincate. The Zn anode exhibits a significant performance boost when compared to Zn foil and bare ZnO nanoparticles, even when subjected to demanding conditions (without the use of ZnO‐saturated electrolyte). This rechargeable Zn anode marks a significant step toward the realization of practical, high‐energy rechargeable aqueous batteries, such as Zn‐air batteries. The graphical illustrates a novel nanostructuring approach to address challenges of the Zn anode in Zn‐alkaline secondary batteries. Carbon‐coated ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO@C) mitigate concerns such as Zn dendrites, self‐corrosion, and passivation. Nanoscale ZnO particles effectively prevent passivation, while the carbon shell slows down the dissolution of zincate, which limits the anode performance of uncoated nanoparticles.

The applications of SERS in therapeutic drug monitoring, or other fields of analytical chemistry, require the availability of sensitive sensors and experimental approaches that can be implemented in affordable ways. In this contribution, we show the production of cost-effective SERS sensors obtained by depositing Lee-Meisel Ag colloids on filter paper either by natural sedimentation or centrifugation. We have characterized the morphological and plasmonic features of the sensors by optical microscopy, SEM, and UV-Vis spectroscopy. Such sensors can be used to quantify by SERS the anti-epileptic drug Perampanel (in the concentration range 1 × 10−4–5 × 10−6 M) by spinning them during the micro-Raman measurements on the top of a custom device obtained from spare part hard disk drives. This approach minimizes laser-induced heating effects and allows averaging over the spatial non-uniformity of the sensor.

In pulsed laser deposition, along the traditionally exploited deposition on the front-side of the plasma-plume, a coating forms on the surface of the target as well. For reproducibility, this residue is usually cleaned and discarded. Here we instead investigate the target-side coated materials and employ them as a binder-free supercapacitor electrode. The ballistic-aggregated, target-side nanofoam is compact and features a larger fraction of sp2-carbon, higher nitrogen content with higher graphitic-N and lower oxygen content with fewer COOH groups than that of diffusive-aggregated conventional nanofoams. They are highly hydrogenated graphite-like amorphous carbon and superhydrophilic. The resulting symmetric micro-supercapacitor delivers higher volumetric capacitance of 522 mF/cm3 at 100 mV/s and 104% retention after 10000 charge-discharge cycles over conventional nanofoam (215 mF/cm3 and 85% retention) with an areal capacitance of 134 {\\mu}F/cm2 at 120 Hz and ultrafast frequency response. Utilizing the normally discarded target-side material can therefore enable high performing devices while reducing waste, cost and energy input per usable product. leading towards a greater sustainability on nanomaterials synthesis and deposition techniques.

As renewable energy is becoming a critical energy source to meet the global demand, electrochemical energy storage devices become indispensable for the efficient energy storage and reliable supply. The electrode material is the key factor determining the energy storage capacity and the power delivery of the devices. Carbon-based materials are emerging as a viable candidate for electrodes, yet their low energy densities impede the development of advanced energy storage materials. Nanoparticle decoration of the carbon structures is one of the most promising and easy-to-implement a strategy to enhance the charge-storage performance of carbon-based electrodes. Decoration by nanoparticles of metals, metal oxides, nitrides, carbides, phosphides, chalcogenides, and bimetallic components lead to significant enhancements in the structural and electronic properties, pore refinement, charge storage, and charge transfer kinetics of both pristine and doped carbon structures, thereby making their performance promising for next-generation energy storage devices. This review covers the state-of-art nanoparticle decorated nanocarbons for battery, supercapacitor, and metal-ion capacitor applications. A critical analysis of the elemental composition, structure, associated physico-chemical properties and performance relationships of nanoparticle-decorated nanocarbon electrodes is provided as well to inform the future development of the next generation of advanced energy storage materials, devices, and systems.

Nanoporous carbon materials containing small domains of sp2-carbon with highly disordered structures are promising for supercapacitor applications. Herein, we synthesize amorphous carbon nanofoam with 98% volumetric void fraction and low mass density of around 30 mg/cm3 by pulsed laser deposition at room temperature. With the unavoidable oxygen functional groups on the nanoporous surface, pristine and nitrogen-functionalized carbon nanofoams are directly grown on the desired substrate under background gas of Ar, N2 and N2-H2employed as supercapacitor electrodes. Among the background gases used in synthesis, the use of nitrogen yields nanofoam with higher thickness and more N-content with higher graphitic-N, which is correlated with plasma plume behaviour. From the test of amorphous carbon nanofoam supercapacitor device, nitrogenated amorphous carbon show a higher areal capacitance of 4.1 mF/cm2 at 20 mV/s in aqueous electrolyte, a better capacitance retention at higher current, and excellent cycle stability (98%) over prolonged 10000 charge-discharge cycles are achieved for compared to pristine counterpart prepared under Ar background gas (2.7 mF/cm2 and cycle stability of 88%).