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HighlightsAnimal models are applied to evaluate the biosecurity and biocompatibility of the zinc-ion batteries with the electrolytes of different zinc salts.Leakage scene simulations and histological analysis are employed in investigating the tissue response after battery implantations, in which ZnSO4 exhibits higher biosecurity.Sn hetero nucleus is introduced to stabilize the zinc anode, which not only facilitates the planar zinc deposition, but also contributes to higher hydrogen evolution overpotential.Biocompatible devices are widely employed in modernized lives and medical fields in the forms of wearable and implantable devices, raising higher requirements on the battery biocompatibility, high safety, low cost, and excellent electrochemical performance, which become the evaluation criteria toward developing feasible biocompatible batteries. Herein, through conducting the battery implantation tests and leakage scene simulations on New Zealand rabbits, zinc sulfate electrolyte is proved to exhibit higher biosecurity and turns out to be one of the ideal zinc salts for biocompatible zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs). Furthermore, in order to mitigate the notorious dendrite growth and hydrogen evolution in mildly acidic electrolyte as well as improve their operating stability, Sn hetero nucleus is introduced to stabilize the zinc anode, which not only facilitates the planar zinc deposition, but also contributes to higher hydrogen evolution overpotential. Finally, a long lifetime of 1500 h for the symmetrical cell, the specific capacity of 150 mAh g−1 under 0.5 A g−1 for the Zn–MnO2 battery and 212 mAh g−1 under 5 A g−1 for the Zn—NH4V4O10 battery are obtained. This work may provide unique perspectives on biocompatible ZIBs toward the biosecurity of their cell components.

Organic zinc salts and complexes were applied as activators for sulfur vulcanization of styrene–butadiene elastomer (SBR) in order to reduce the content of zinc ions in rubber compounds as compared with conventionally used zinc oxide. In this article, the effects of different organic zinc activators on the curing characteristics, crosslink densities, and mechanical properties of SBR as well as the aging resistance and thermal behavior of vulcanizates are discussed. Organic zinc salts seem to be good substitutes for zinc oxide as activators for sulfur vulcanization of SBR rubber, without detrimental effects to the vulcanization time and temperature. Moreover, vulcanizates containing organic zinc salts exhibit higher tensile strength and better damping properties than vulcanizate crosslinked with zinc oxide. The application of organic zinc activators allows the amount of zinc ions in SBR compounds to be reduced by 70–90 wt % compared to vulcanizate with zinc oxide. This is very important for ecological reasons, since zinc oxide is classified as being toxic to aquatic species.

Polymer electrolytes have been explored as an alternative to conventional aqueous electrolytes in zinc-ion batteries, particularly for flexible and wearable applications. Despite the increasing interest in polymer electrolyte-based zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs), their development is still in its early stages due to various challenges. In this study, we investigated three promising polymer electrolytes: CSAM (carboxyl methyl chitosan with acrylamide monomer), PAM (polyacrylamide monomer hydrogel electrolyte), and p-PBI (phosphate-doped polybenzimidazole solid electrolyte) with Zn(ClO4)2 and Zn(OTf)2, as electrolytes for zinc-ion batteries. The p-PBI solid electrolyte showed high mechanical stability and improved resistance to short-circuiting during cycling. The presence of carboxyl groups in CSAM and the existence of O-H bonding facilitated ion movement, resulting in enhanced ionic conductivity and preventing dendrite formation. Incorporating these hydrogels with high-performance zinc salts, such as zinc triflate (Zn(OTf)2), resulted in stable symmetric cell cycling over 4000 h with a uniform voltage profile under 1 mA/cm2 and a low overpotential of around 53 mV cycling with CSAM. Rate-dependent full-cell testing showed that the PBI solid electrolyte delivers higher capacity retention at different current densities, whereas CSAM exhibits markedly better long-term stability, even at low voltages, owing to its effective dendrite suppression, which helps preserve cathode performance over extended cycling.

The electrochemical behaviors and electrodeposition of zinc have been investigated in choline chloride-urea (ChCl-urea) deep eutectic solvent (DES) containing different zinc salts. Cyclic voltammetry indicates that the redox of Zn/Zn(II) in all electrolyte systems is a quasi-reversible process and the zinc salt dissolved in DES plays a critical role in the electrochemistry of Zn/Zn(II). The Zn salt anions were found to have varying interaction strengths with the Zn(II) species in the order of chloride > sulfate > trifluoromethyl sulfonate. The impedance analysis supports the cyclic voltammetry studies, and suggests that porous Zn(II) complex film may be formed on the electrode surface during zinc stripping. In addition, zinc salt has an obvious effect on the morphology and crystallographic orientation of the deposit. The Zn(OTf) 2 or ZnSO 4 in ChCl-urea DES was found to be beneficial for electrodeposition of zinc in uniform, non-dendrite morphology. The present results show that EDSs have good application potential as electrolyte in rechargeable zinc-based batteries.

The conductivity of photocatalyst itself or its contacted media has a positive effect on the photocatalytic performance of the resultant photocatalytic composite materials. However, the relationship between the conductivity of polymer matrix and the photocatalytic activity of MOF-based photocatalysts is still inconclusive. In this study, the polyacrylonitrile-polyaniline-2-methylimidazole zinc salt (PAN-PANI-ZIF8) fiber membranes were prepared by doping ZIF8 particles with PAN and PANI matrices using electrospinning technique. The as-prepared fiber membranes were investigated by several characterization methods. Experimental results revealed that ZIF8, PAN and PANI were interacted with each other via the electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonds between PAN and PANI, the bonding of N atom of PAN to Zn 2+ ion of ZIF8, and the bonding of protonated N atom on the quinone ring of PANI to Zn 2+ ion of ZIF8. The energy band structure of PAN–PANI–ZIF8 fiber was totally dominated by the PANI component. The Zn 2+ ion of ZIF8 and the functional groups of both C≡N of PAN and -NH- and = N + - of benzenoid/quinoid of PANI facilitated the transfer of charge carriers among ZIF8, PAN and PANI. The apparent photodegradation rate constant and the ion conductivities of the fiber membranes obeyed the quadratic polynomial equation. The matrix of PAN rather than PANI affected the active species of PAN–PANI–ZIF8 fiber membranes. The molecular dynamics simulation calculations indicated that ZIF-8 was strongly interacted with PANI as compared with PAN. This work proposed an efficient method in improving the photocatalytic activity of MOF-based photocatalysts.

Zinc supplementation is a critical new intervention for treating diarrheal episodes in children. Recent studies suggest that administration of zinc along with new low osmolarity oral rehydration solutions / salts (ORS), can reduce the duration and severity of diarrheal episodes for up to three months. The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF recommend daily 20 mg zinc supplements for 10 - 14 days for children with acute diarrhea, and 10 mg per day for infants under six months old, to curtail the severity of the episode and prevent further occurrences in the ensuing -two to three months, thereby decreasing the morbidity considerably. This article reviews the available evidence on the efficacy and safety of zinc supplementation in paediatric diarrhea and convincingly concludes that zinc supplementation has a beneficial impact on the disease outcome.

Composite nucleating agent (CNA) consisting of zinc oxide as a crystallization promoter and phenylphosphonic acid zinc salt (PPZn) as an heterogeneous nucleation agent was employed to improve the crystallization behaviors of branched poly (lactic acid) (B-PLA) which was prepared by use of multi-functional epoxy-based chain extender (CE). The differential scanning calorimeter results showed that the crystallinity and crystallization temperature of prepared B-PLA/CNA were higher than that of linear poly (lactic acid) (L-PLA) and B-PLA at a high cooling rate. The corresponding phenomena of heterogeneous nucleation of B-PLA/CNA were observed by means of polarized optical microscope. The crystalline mechanism research results show that the degradation reaction and chain extending reaction were occurred simultaneously after the addition of CE and CNA into the PLA, PPZn as an effective nucleation points could increase the nucleation density and the degraded short molecular chains with higher chain mobility would improve crystal growth during the crystallization of the branched PLA. Non-isothermal cold crystallization kinetics of various B-PLA with different content of CNA was studied. The corresponding result showed that the crystallinity and crystallization rate increased obviously with the CNA content greater than or equal to 5phr, as well as the crystallization time decreased. The similar experimental results of non-isothermal and isothermal melt crystallization kinetics also showed that CNA had a significant impact on crystallization behavior of B-PLA.

The intrinsic drawback of slow crystallization rate of poly(l-lactide) (PLLA) inevitably deteriorates its final properties of the molded articles. In this work, we proposed a new strategy towards poly(l-lactide) with enhanced crystallization rate by ring opening polymerization (ROP) of l-lactide (l-LA) catalyzed by biocompatible zinc salts of amino acids. For the first time we developed a one-pot facile method of zinc salts of amino acids acting dual roles of catalysis of l-LA polymerization and in situ nucleation of the as-prepared PLLA. Nine zinc salts of different amino acids, including three kinds of amino acids ligands (alanine, phenylalanine, and proline) with l/d-enantiomers and their equimolar racemic mixtures, were first prepared and tested as catalysts of l-LA polymerization. A partial racemization was observed for zinc salts of amino acids whereas no racemization was detected for the reference stannous octoate. The polymerization mechanism study showed that the interaction of zinc salts of amino acids and benzyl alcohol forms the actual initiator for l-LA polymerization. Isothermal crystallization kinetics analysis showed that the residual zinc salts of amino acids exhibited a significant nucleation effect on PLLA, evidenced by the promotion of the crystallization rate, depending on the amino acid ligand and its configuration. Meanwhile, the residual zinc salts of amino acids did not compromise the thermal stability of the pristine PLLA.

Green synthesis of nanoparticles by biological systems especially plant extracts has become an emerging field in nanotechnology. In this study, zinc oxide nanoparticles were synthesized using Laurus nobilis L. leaves aqueous extract and two different zinc salts (zinc acetate and zinc nitrate) as precursors. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by Ultraviolet-Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-Ray Diffraction analysis (XRD), Energy-Dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). UV-Vis spectra showed typical absorption peaks in around 350 nm due to their large excitation binding energy at room temperature. Chemical bond formations of zinc oxide were confirmed by FT-IR analyses. XRD results revealed the formation of hexagonal wurtzite structure, and SEM analyses showed spherical shape with the average size (21.49, 25.26) nm for the synthesized nanoparticles by zinc acetate and zinc nitrate respectively. EDX analyses confirmed high purity for the synthesized nanoparticles.

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence that different fatty acid zinc salts had on the rheological, curing and mechanical properties of natural rubber based composites filled with silica and containing bi-functional organosilanes in the presence or absence of zinc oxide. The results demonstrated that the combination of zinc oxide and zinc soaps had a strongly pronounced anti-reversion effect. The absence of reversion in the cure curves of the rubber compounds comprising a combination of zinc oxide, stearic acid and zinc soaps, results in retention of their mechanical properties, even after overcure.