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Aqueous Zn‐ion batteries (AZIBs) are regarded as a promising alternative to the widely used lithium‐ion batteries in large‐scale energy storage systems. The researches on the development of novel aqueous electrolyte to improve battery performance have also attracted great interest since the electrolyte is a key component for Zn2+ migration between cathode and anode. Herein, we briefly summarized and illuminated the recent development tendency of aqueous electrolyte for AZIBs, then deeply analyzed its existing issues (water decomposition, cathode dissolution, corrosion and passivation, and dendrite growth) and discussed the corresponding optimization strategies (pH regulation, concentrated salt solution, electrolyte composition design, and functional additives). The internal mechanisms of these strategies were further revealed and the relationships between issues and solutions were clarified, which could guide the future development of aqueous electrolytes for AZIBs. This review reveals the internal mechanisms of these strategies and clarifies the relationships between different issues and solutions for aqueous Zn‐ion batteries.

In the long-distance thermal air heating process of large space buildings, there are common problems of thermal air trajectory deflection and low energy efficiency caused by thermal buoyancy. This study proposes an induced air supply system that is easy to design for integration; that is, adding a high-velocity ambient temperature induced airflow above the thermal jet, which can instantly and efficiently suppress the buoyancy of the thermal jet and maintain its axial center temperature, thereby achieving good heating performance. This study uses a numerical simulation method to analyze the effect of the induced airflow and compares the flow field characteristics and heating performance of a single thermal jet and an induced air supply system. The results show that the greater the velocity of the induced airflow, the wider the control range of the thermal jet; the induced airflow can reduce the mixing of the thermal jet and the ambient airflow, and effectively suppress the deflection of the thermal jet and increase its axial center temperature; when the target area is close to the air inlet (y/D ≤ 7.5), the single thermal jet air supply can be used, because too small a deflection height will cause more induced airflow to enter the target area, which will worsen the heating effect. The induced air supply system is best for improving the average temperature of the target area at y/D = 15; as the target distance increases, on the premise of ensuring the blowing feeling, it is possible to consider increasing the induced airflow velocity to obtain a higher heating gain.

Highlights A semisolid MnO 2 slurry electrode enables reversible MnO 2 deposition/dissolution within a CNT-percolated conductive network, achieving a high areal capacity of 60 mAh cm −2 The slurry system promotes the formation of highly conductive γ-MnO 2 and achieves uniform MnO 2 dissolution through enhanced charge transfer. The MnO 2 slurry electrode offers strong scalability and regenerability, retaining 100% capacity after 180 cycles and reactivating inactive MnO 2 via percolation. Electrolytic Zn–MnO 2 batteries are promising candidates for safe and sustainable energy storage owing to their high voltage, environmental benignity, and cost-effectiveness. However, practical applications are hindered by the poor conductivity and the irreversible dissolution of conventional ε-MnO 2 deposits. Herein, we report a scalable semisolid slurry electrode architecture that enables stable MnO 2 deposition/dissolution using a three-dimensional percolating network of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as both conductive matrix and deposition host. The slurry system promotes the formation of highly conductive γ-MnO 2 owing to enhanced charge transfer kinetics, enabling overall dissolution rather than the localized separation typically seen in traditional electrodes. The Zn–MnO 2 slurry cell exhibits a reversible areal capacity approaching 60 mAh cm −2 . Moreover, the flowable nature of the slurry allows electrochemically inactive MnO 2 formed during dissolution to be reconnected and reactivated by CNTs in the rheological network, ensuring deep utilization and cycling stability. This work establishes a slurry electrode strategy to improve electrolytic MnO 2 reactions and offers a viable pathway toward renewable aqueous batteries for grid-scale applications.

The development of zinc-ion batteries with high energy density remains a great challenge due to the uncontrollable dendrite growth on their zinc metal anodes. Film anodes plated on the substrate have attracted increasing attention to alleviate these dendrite issues. Herein, we first point out that both the random crystal orientation and the low metal affinity of the substrate are important factors of zinc dendrite formation. Accordingly, the (1 0 1) fully preferred tin interface layer with high zinc affinity was fabricated by chemical tin plating on (1 0 0) oriented copper. This tin decorated copper substrate can realize high reversible zinc plating/stripping behavior, and full cell using this zinc plated substrate can be operated for more than 1000 cycles with high capacity retention (85.3%) and low electrochemical impedance. The proposed strategy can be also applied to lithium metal batteries, which demonstrates that the substrate orientation regulation and metal affinity design are the promising approaches to achieve dendrite-free metal anode and overcome the challenges of highly reactive metal anodes.

The industrial application of zinc‐ion batteries is restricted by irrepressible dendrite growth and side reactions that resulted from the surface heterogeneity of the commercial zinc electrode and the thermodynamic spontaneous corrosion in a weakly acidic aqueous electrolyte. Herein, a common polar dye, Procion Red MX‐5b, with high polarity and asymmetric charge distribution is introduced into the zinc sulfate electrolyte, which can not only reconstruct the solvation configuration of Zn2+ and strengthen hydrogen bonding to reduce the reactivity of free H2O but also homogenize interfacial electric field by its preferentially absorption on the zinc surface. The symmetric cell can cycle with a lower voltage hysteresis (78.4 mV) for 1120 times at 5 mA cm−2 and Zn//NaV3O8·1.5H2O full cell can be cycled over 1000 times with high capacity (average 170 mAh g−1) at 4 A g−1 in the compound electrolyte. This study provides a new perspective for additive engineering strategies of aqueous zinc‐ion batteries. The practical application of zinc‐ion batteries is limited by the severe zinc dendrite growth, corrosion and side reactions. In this work, a multifunctional polar additive is introduced that constructs a new solvent sheath for zinc ion and strengthens the hydrogen bond network in the electrolyte, enabling uniform zinc stripping/plating, thereby improving the stability and life span of zinc‐ion batteries.

Wildfires and post-fire restoration methods significantly impact soil physicochemical properties and microbial characteristics in forest ecosystems. Understanding post-fire soil recovery and the impacts of various post-fire restoration methods is essential for developing effective restoration strategies. This study aimed to investigate how fire and soil depth influence soil physicochemical properties, enzymatic activities, and the structure of microbial communities, as well as how these factors change under different post-fire management practices. We sampled 0–10 cm (topsoil) and 10–20 cm (subsoil) in unburned plots, naturally restored plots, and two afforestation plots in southern China. The results showed that fire reduced topsoil soil moisture, nutrient levels, and microbial biomass. The variations in soil physicochemical properties significantly influenced microbial processes. Soil bulk density, nitrate, ammonium, carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, and availability of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium availability influenced soil enzyme activities. Soil pH, ammonium nitrogen, and the availability of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium were key factors shaping microbial composition. Fire altered the soil microbial communities by reducing the availability of nitrogen. Soil depth alleviated the impact of fire on the soil to some degree. Although artificial interventions reduced soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, and phosphorus, planting nitrogen-fixing species, such as Acacia mangium, promoted microbial recovery.

The high energy storage devices such as lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have recently attracted extensive attention, and massive efforts have been made to synthesize the high-performance electrodes for Li-ion storage. Here, a facile in situ synthesis method was proposed to prepare the NiO/Ni nanocomposites embedded in three-dimensional (3D) porous carbon network (denoted as NiO/Ni⊕C). The phase component and microstructure of the NiO/Ni⊕C were detected by using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscopy. The NiO/Ni nanocomposites with the particle size of approximately 20–50 nm were uniformly dispersed in the 3D porous carbon matrix. The 3D carbon network is in favor of electrical conductivity, and effectively alleviates the volume effect during lithiation–delithiation processes, and thus help the electrode achieve high electrochemistry performance. The NiO/Ni⊕C electrodes possess a reversible specific capacity of 934 mAh g−1 at a current density of 300 mA g−1, and exhibit a superior rate performance with a specific capacity of 505 mAh g−1 at a current density of 2 A g−1. The NiO/Ni⊕C electrodes maintained a specific capacity of up to 683 mAh g−1 even after 1000 cycles at a current density of 1 A g−1.

Vortex ventilation, which utilizes vortex airflow to effectively transport pollutants over long distances, is a promising method for pollution control in large spatial structures. The performance of vortex ventilation heavily depends on the stable generation and maintenance of column vortex airflow, necessitating a comprehensive understanding of the interactions among supply airflow, exhaust airflow, and pollutant airflow. In this study, experimental method and transient computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method were employed to quantitatively analyze the influence of supply airflow characteristics and parameters on the formation of vortex airflow. It was found that impingements between supply jet streams significantly affect the generation of vortex ventilation. Based on variations in the flow shape of supply jet streams, the process of vortex airflow formation can be divided into three stages: initiation, oscillation, and stabilization. As the airflow rate increases, the impingement effect between the air jet streams makes the vortex unstable and the vortex intensity decreases. Optimization strategies were proposed to modify system geometry, including increasing the number of supply air inlets, adjusting the horizontal deflection angle of supply air, and enlarging the size of supply air inlets. Increasing the horizontal deflection angle of supply air was shown to minimize the negative pressure within the flow field to a minimum of −12 Pa and reduce the coefficient of variation to a minimum of 0.01, which proved most effective in enhancing vortex stability.

Due to the unsatisfactory electrode/electrolyte interface, the metallic Zn dendrites and corrosion are easily induced, severely hindering the applications of zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs). Herein, a strategy that engineers the interfacial double layer by an extremely low concentration of sulfolane is proposed to tune the Zn stripping/plating behavior. It is revealed that the highly-polar sulfolane can predominately occupy the inner Helmholtz layer over water, and then regulate the upcoming Zn 2+ to directly deposit downward. Simultaneously, the widened Helmholtz layer can weaken the electric field intensity, which will generate more nucleation sites and reduce the nuclei radius, thereby promoting uniform zinc deposition as well. Moreover, corrosion byproducts can be inhibited since fewer water molecules can contact the Zn electrodes. Consequently, the battery performance can be naturally optimized. With an optimum amount of sulfolane, the Zn∥Zn battery can operate for more than 1,100 h under 1 mA cm −2 and 1 mAh cm −2 . And the as-constructed Zn∥NaV 3 O 8 ·1.5H 2 O battery demonstrates considerably higher cycling stability than that without sulfolane. Overall, this work has provided a deep insight into constructing a functional interfacial double layer to regulate zinc deposition, which can also act as a reference for other metal-based batteries.

For various applications of negative temperature coefficient (NTC) thermistors, it is useful to develop a material system to achieve different room-temperature resistivities (ρ25) and temperature sensitivity (B value) by adjusting slightly the chemical composition. Here, B3+/Na+-modified NiO-based ceramics (denoted as xB/yNa-NiO, 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.04 and 0 ≤ y ≤ 0.07) were prepared for NTC thermistors. The phase component and microstructure of the ceramics were detected respectively by using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope. The related electrical properties and temperature sensitivity were investigated by analyzing the resistivity-temperature characteristic and related complex impedance spectra. The results show that all the prepared ceramics have a cubic crystalline structure and present typical NTC characteristics. By changing the concentrations of B3+- and Na+-ions in the compounds, ρ25 from 47.94 Ω cm to 1.024 MΩ cm and B values from 2582 to 8019 K were achieved. The analysis of complex impedance spectra reveals that both grain effect and grain boundary effect contribute to the electrical conduction and NTC feature. The conduction mechanisms combining with band conduction and polaron hopping model are proposed for the NTC effect in xB/yNa-NiO thermistors.