Chinese researchers have recently developed a new type of lithium metal battery with 3D printing technology, significantly improving the battery's lifespan and energy density.
　　Lithium metal battery is expected to be the next-generation high-energy battery for its potential high energy density. But the bottlenecks, such as lithium dendrite growth and low Coulombic efficiency, resulting in poor cyclability and low energy density, have limited its applications.
　　The researchers from Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences use 3D printing technology to make titanium carbide-based scaffolds for lithium metal to deposit as the cathode, which achieves an outstanding areal capacity of 30 milliampere hour per square centimeter and a cycle lifespan of over 4,800 hours without producing lithium dendrite.
　　The 3D printed anode was made by porous lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) lattices with mass loading reaching 171 mg per square centimeter, effectively improving the electrochemical performance of the battery.
　　This technical route offers a viable strategy for developing batteries with long lifespans and high energy density, according to the study.
　　The study was published in the journal Energy Storage Materials.
　　Related link: https://english.news.cn/20221028/09f25b5eb78643cb8e1646139ee4b79b/c.html

Chinese scientists have clearly mapped the basic mechanism behind turning water into hydrogen gas using sunlight and catalysts, paving the way for the green production of hydrogen on an industrial scale, according to a study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday.Hydrogen is widely regarded as a clean and renewable fuel crucial for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and combating climate change. However, producing hydrogen on an industrial scale often requires natural gas, a non-renewable fossil fuel.For decades, scientists have been trying to find a clean and easy way to produce hydrogen, preferably using water, which contains two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom.In the 1970s, researchers discovered that certain catalysts can absorb energy from light to start a chemical reaction. This process is known as photocatalysis, and scientists later found that some photocatalysts can split water into hydrogen and oxygen gas using sunlight."Using photocatalysts to produce hydrogen is considered one of the most important and challenging chemical reactions in the field of chemical sciences," said Li Can, a researcher at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.Li said the reaction is also regarded as the "holy grail" of chemistry, but the current efficiency of this reaction is too low and far from practical. One of the main reasons is the lack of understanding of its basic mechanisms, such as how electrical charges generated by sunlight are involved in the reaction process.Photocatalysts' complex nanoscale features and electrical charge operating across a range of spatial and temporal scales, such as from a femtosecond (one millionth of one billionth, of a second), to seconds, are some of the major challenges when probing the essential mechanisms of photocatalysis, Li said.As a result, the conversion rate of water to hydrogen using photocatalysts is about 1.5 percent, a major improvement compared to decades ago, but still drastically behind traditional production methods using fossil fuel, he added.Now, Chinese scientists have cracked one of the biggest scientific mysteries behind using photocatalysts to make hydrogen. They used a combination of three techniques to reveal the complex process of how charge transfers in a cuprous oxide photocatalyst, a semiconductor material made of only one copper atom and one oxygen atom.This breakthrough will allow scientists to improve the efficiency of photocatalysts and design better ones that may have potential industrial applications, said Li."If the conversion rate of a water-splitting reaction using photocatalysts can reach around 10 percent, then it would have a practical chance of replacing the current industrial production method," he said. "We still have quite a long way to go, but now that we know how the process works, we may see new breakthroughs in the coming years."An anonymous peer reviewer for the study said the measurement of the mechanism will be of interest to the wider communities of catalysis, energy and materials science. (China Daily)

A power storage utility has been built in the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian, Liaoning Province, with the capacity to meet one day's electricity demand of some 200,000 people.The first phase of the Dalian Flow Battery Energy Storage Peak-shaving Power Station has been connected to the power grid and is expected to be put into operation in October, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on Thursday.The utility has a storage capacity of 400,000 kWh, and it will be doubled to 800,000 kWh after an extension in the future, according to the CAS.The project is based on the vanadium flow battery energy storage tech developed by the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) under the CAS, which is safe, reliable, enduring, recyclable and eco-friendly.The station works like a reservoir of power. At electricity troughs, the batteries will be charged by renewable energy sources, and at peak-load hours, the chemical energy in them can transform into electricity for use."Given the volatile and intermittent generation of clean energy including wind and solar power, this project can increase clean energy utilization and ensure grid stability," said Li Xianfeng, deputy director of the DICP. （Xinhua）

　　Chinese researchers have developed a prototype of planar and flexible 3D printed sodium-ion micro batteries (NIMBs) with ultra-high areal capacity and boosted rate capability, according to a research article recently published in the journal Advanced Materials.
　　Planar NIMBs are a promising new micro-power source because of their rich sodium resources, low cost, and fast sodium ion transmission. But they are hindered by low areal capacity owing to the thin microelectrodes.
　　The researchers from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences developed 3D printable inks with appropriate viscosities and high conductivity. The material allows the multilayer printing of NIMB microelectrodes to reach a very high thickness of about 1,200 micrometers while maintaining effective ion and electron-transfer pathways.
　　The 3D-printed NIMBs deliver a superior areal capacity of 4.5mAh per square centimeter at a low current density of 2mA per square centimeter, outperforming the state-of-the-art printed micro batteries, said the research article.
　　The new NIMBs show enhanced rate capability with 3.6mAh per square centimeter at a high current density of 40mA per square centimeter and robust long-term cycle life up to 6,000 cycles.
　　Furthermore, the planar NIMB microelectrodes exhibit decent mechanical flexibility under various bending conditions. (Xinhua) 

　　Three scientists on Sunday were awarded the 2022 Future Science Prize, the first Chinese non-governmental science award jointly initiated by groups of scientists and entrepreneurs.
　　Li Wenhui, a professor with the Tsinghua University, won the prize in life sciences for discovering hepatitis B and D virus receptor, sodium taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide. The discovery could help develop more effective drugs to treat the diseases.
　　The winner of the prize in physical sciences was Yang Xueming, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He developed new-generation molecular beam techniques with high resolution and sensitivity for state-resolved reaction dynamics studies, revealing quantum resonances and geometric phase effects in chemical reactions.
　　Ngaiming Mok, a professor at the University of Hong Kong, won the prize in mathematics and computer science for developing the theory of Varieties of Minimal Rational Tangents in algebraic geometry to solve several long-standing problems and proving Ax-Schanuel's conjecture for Shimura varieties.
　　Founded in 2016, the Future Science Prize aims to push forward research in basic science. It awards scientists who have made significant research achievements in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
　　Twenty-seven scientists including famous agricultural scientist Yuan Longping, physicist Xue Qikun and biologist Shi Yigong have been awarded the prize so far. (Xinhua) 

　　Chinese researchers have developed a new catalyst that can convert carbon dioxide and water into pure formic acid, a raw material in the organic chemical industry, the Guangming Daily reported Monday.
　　The researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China, the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, and the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, developed the new type of single-atom copper catalyst of high activity at a low cost to exclusively convert carbon dioxide and water into formic acid.
　　Using the new catalyst, the researchers invented an electrolyzer to directly and continuously produce pure formic acid solutions without a product-separation process. It reduces the carbon dioxide electrolysis cost massively.
　　Using sustainable energy sources to convert carbon dioxide into high-value chemicals is a new technology to utilize this greenhouse gas and cut carbon emissions.
　　But the current method produces formic acid with by-products such as carbon monoxide, ethylene, and ethanol, all in the electrolytic solution at a massive cost to extract and purify.
　　The research finding appeared in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. (Xinhua)