Twinned Mn0.5Cd0.5S (T-MCS) solid solution was prepared by a hydrothermal method, and then Zn0.76Co0.24S/T-MCS heterojunction was fabricated by an in-situ hydrothermal method. The results show that Mn0.5Cd0.5S solid solutions is a twinned homojunction consisting of wurtzite Mn0.5Cd0.5S (WZ-MCS) and zinc-blende Mn0.5Cd0.5S (ZB-MCS) alternately. The introduction of Zn0.76Co0.24S can enhance the light harvesting ability of the system and increase the number of the surface charge carriers, the H2 production rate of 3% Zn0.76Co0.24S/T-MCS reaches 132.9 mmol·g?1·h?1 in Na2S/Na2SO3 mixture solution (300 W Xe lamp, λ > 420 nm), which is 332.2 and 1.9 times greater than those of Zn0.76Co0.24S and T-MCS, respectively. According to the results by energy band structure analysis, the type-II twinned homojunction between WZ-MCS and ZB-MCS can improve the bulk phase charge separation, the S-scheme heterojunction between T-MCS and Zn0.76Co0.24S can accelerate the interfacial charge transfer, and the REDOX capacity of the holes in T-MCS valence band and electrons in Zn0.76Co0.24S conduction band is retained, therefore resulting in a faster H2 production.

The construction of step scheme (S-scheme) heterojunction with a great redox ability and a high charge transfer efficiency is an effective strategy to enhance the photocatalytic activity. ZnIn2S4 nanosheets were grown in-situ on the surface of perylenimide (PDI) rods via a solvothermal method. A PDI/ZnIn2S4 heterojunction exhibits an excellent photocatalytic performance due to its tight interfacial contact and matched band structures. Moreover, the 5% PDI/ZnIn2S4 affords high H2/benzaldehyde production rates of 21.66 mmol/(g?h) and 1.02 mmol/(g?h), respectively, which is 2.12 and 3.00 folds of pristine ZnIn2S4, respectively when coupling the photocatalytic H2 evolution and the benzyl alcohol oxidation in the reaction system. Based on the results by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transient photoluminescence spectroscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance analysis, the formation of the built-in electric field at the interface of PDI/ZnIn2S4 and the S-scheme electron transfer path was confirmed. The enhanced photocatalytic performance and stability can be attributed to the close contact and rich active sites of PDI/ZnIn2S4, and the charge carrier migration and increased photoredox properties were improved by a S-scheme charge-transfer route. This organic-inorganic PDI/ZnIn2S4 S-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst can be used as a novel bifunctional photocatalyst in converting solar light into clean fuel and chemicals.

Ag surface plasmon resonance promoted step-scheme (S-scheme) SnNb2O6/Ag3PO4 heterojunctions were constructed via simple chemical deposition and precipitation. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffractometer, field-emission scanning electron microscope, high resolution transmission electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron spectrometer, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectrometer and photoluminescence spectrometer. The photocatalytic activities of SnNb2O6, Ag3PO4 and SnNb2O6/Ag3PO4 composites can be determined via degradation experiments. The results show that the SnNb2O6/Ag3PO4 composite possesses an optimum degradation performance in the photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue. Besides, the pseudo-first-order rate constant (Kapp) of SnNb2O6/Ag3PO4 is 0.313 min-1, which is 13.1 times and 4.8 times greater than that of SnNb2O6 and Ag3PO4, respectively. Also, Ag surface plasmon resonance-promoted SnNb2O6/Ag3PO4 S-scheme heterojunction can accelerate the separation of electron-hole pairs, thereby enhancing the redox reaction capability of the whole system.

Several exfoliation methods including thermal treatment in air and hydrogen, ultrasonication, and chemical treatment with sodium borohydride were applied to modify the properties of bulk graphitic carbon nitride (g-CN). The prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoemission spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscope and N2 physisorption, and their photocatalytic performances were evaluated via the degradation of organic pollutants in aqueous solution. The results indicated that the exfoliation methods affect greatly on the physicochemical and photocatalytic properties of g-CN, and the optimum sample can be obtained by thermal treating in air (g-CN~~A), showing 99.87% conversion at 40 min for the photocatalytic degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride, and the performance was preserved even after four cycles. The mechanism on the reaction intermediates with trapping experiments indicated that superoxide anion radicals (·O2-) are the main active species of the reaction.

Bismuth oxide (Bi2O3) is an important visible-light-driven photocatalyst, which possesses an application potential in photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants and treatment of wastewater. However, low specific surface area and rapid recombination of carriers lead to a poor photocatalytic performance of Bi2O3, seriously restricting its application. Besides, the particle morphology of Bi2O3 is also not conducive to recycling and application. In this work, a flexible Bi2O3/carbon paper composite photocatalyst was prepared via electrochemical deposition and subsequent in-situ oxidation to improve its photocatalytic performance and operation convenience. In the as-prepared composite photocatalysts, fern-like β-Bi2O3 with a hierarchical structure is grown on the carbon paper substrate. In the visible-light-driven photocatalytic degradation of phenol in water, the photocatalytic performance of Bi2O3/carbon paper composite can surpasses α-Bi2O3 powder without a hierarchical structure and precedes the β-Bi2O3 with a hierarchical structure. Based on the analysis of N2 adsorption, diffuse reflection spectra, photoluminescence and reactive radical, the improved activity of Bi2O3/carbon paper composite is ascribed to the fern-like hierarchical structure of Bi2O3 and the electron capturing role of conductive carbon paper. The hierarchical structure favors the light absorption of Bi2O3 and its contact with reactants, while the electron capturing role of carbon paper can effectively separate the photogenerated electrons and holes in Bi2O3, thus promoting the utilization of carriers. In addition, the macro-size, flexibility and two-dimensional morphology of the composite also make the operation and recycling more convenient. This study provides an effective strategy for the design of flexible photocatalysts with a hierarchical structure.

To eradicate antibiotics from aqueous solution, cerium(Ce) doped ZnFe2O4 microspheres with different Ce mass ratios were prepared by a hydrothermal method and applied for the photocatalytic decomposition of tetracycline antibiotic. The results reveal that the introduction of Ce improves the charge separation for the photogenerated electron-hole pairs, which can be confirmed form the photocurrent spectra. The optimized sample ZnFe1.96Ce0.04O4 shows a decomposition rate of 56.6% under simulated solar light within 40 min. The trapping experiments show that hydroxyl radical and superoxide radical are the main degrading species, directly involving in the decomposition of antibiotics. Moreover, the rate of hydrogen produced from water splitting photocatalyzed by ZnFe1.96Ce0.04O4 reaches 230.4 μmol/(g·h) under simulated solar light irradiation.

The design and synthesis of organic polymers for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution have attracted recent attention. However, the corresponding work on the synthesis methods and optimal synthesis sites of organic polymers are not complete. This paper was to synthesize five organic polymer photocatalysts via a Suzuki cross-coupling polymerization reaction. The effect of linking position content on the photocatalytic H2-evolution and photoelectrochemical performances of organic polymer semiconductors was investigated. The results show that the increase of 1,6-linkage pattern severely affects the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution effect. A 1,6-linked pyrene benzothiadiazole polymer (L16-PyBT) has a photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate of 6.81 mmol/(h·g) under visible-light irradiation, which is greater than that of L2 (i.e., 2.80 mmol/(h·g) and L27-PyBT (i.e., 0.34?mmol/(h·g). The increased photocatalysis is since 1,6-linkage has a stronger π-π stacking, and better absorption/wettability. The evolution of this connection mode provides an important idea for the synthesis and design of organic polymers in the future.

Photocatalytic reactions can convert solar energy into storable chemical energy, thus providing a feasible strategy for solving energy crisis and environmental problems. However, the photochemical conversion efficiency is restricted due to the low transfer and separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers. The emerging S-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts have attracted recent attention in the fields of solar fuel conversion and environmental purification for the spatially efficient separation of photogenerated carriers and strong redox ability. This review represented recent development on the design principles, charge transfer mechanism and applications of S-scheme heterojunction photocatalysts. In addition, their prospects and challenges were also discussed.

Photocatalysis is one of the effective approaches to solve the energy and environmental problems. In the process of photocatalytic reaction, the catalysts structures, surfaces, and interfaces as well as the defects are the key factors affecting their catalytic efficiency, which can be precisely adjusted by optimizing the synthesis method and enhancing the specific performance. Different from the conventional heat transfer type heating modes, microwave-assisted synthesis is an improved strategy for synthesizing micro- and nano-materials based on the heating mechanisms such as dipole polarization, ionic conduction, conduction loss, and hysteresis loss.This method has some advantages like fast heating, uniform thermal effect and good reproducibility in the thermal synthesis of photocatalytic materials. The pointed heating and directional assembly can be induced by the specific thermal effect under microwave irradiation. Microwave-assisted synthesis has attracted wide attention. This review mainly summarized recent research progress on the microwave photocatalysts synthesis, focusing on the superhot interaction between microwave and condensed matter in the synthesis process. It is indicated that the photocatalytic performance can be enhanced through the optimization of structures, surfaces, and interfaces as well as defects of photocatalysts synthesized in microwave-assisted synthesis method.

MXene as a novel two-dimensional transition metal carbides, nitrides or carbonitrides has the excellent metal conductivity, high carrier mobility, and surface-terminated groups regulated band structure. It can be thus used as a cocatalyst in photocatalytic material systems to improve the photocatalytic properties. This review represented recent research progress on the controllable construction of MXene-based composites with zero-dimensional, one-dimensional, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional semiconductor photocatalytic materials and its applications in the photocatalytic fields (i.e., pollutant removal, hydrogen production, CO2 reduction, and nitrogen fixation). Also, the construction methods and photocatalytic enhancement mechanisms of two-dimensional MXene-based composite photocatalysts were given. In addition, the future research directions of MXene-based composite photocatalysts were also prospected.

Graphdiyne (GD) is one of carbon allotropes with the unique structure and has ideal high strength, excellent light transmittance, electrical conductivity, high carrier mobility, and thermal conductivity. GD with a natural band gap is an intrinsic semiconductor with special charge transport properties. GD shows a band gap in the range of 0.45 to 1.30 eV, compared with graphene without band gap, which has a promising potential for electronic, catalytic, optical and mechanical applications. Also, GD has two different Dirac cones near the top and bottom of the Fermi energy level, indicating that GD is a self-doped semiconductor with charge carriers and does not require additional doping like graphene. GD can be used as a potential and excellent photocatalytic material, and theoretically it is needed to be modified to build active sites for efficient photo-induced reactions.

Waste lithium batteries have become a research hotspot due to their extremely high resources and hazards. Hygrometallurgical recycling is the main existing method for processing waste lithium battery cathode materials, and the recovery of valuable metal elements from the leaching solutions is the key to hygrometallurgical recovery of waste cathode materials. In this paper, nickel, cobalt and manganese were precipitated from a malic acid leaching solution of high manganese cathode material of waste lithium battery as raw material via ozone oxidation, and the optimal precipitation conditions were obtained. The results show that the precipitation rates of nickel, cobalt, and manganese are 18.2%, 41.5%, and 85.8%, and the contents of nickel, cobalt, and manganese in the ozone precipitation slag are 0.85%, 1.63%, and 41.3%, respectively under the optimal precipitation conditions. The ozone oxidation precipitation slag is a high manganese-based precursor, and the precursor is regenerated into LiMn2O4 cathode material after supplementing lithium. The first discharge specific capacity of this regenerate cathode material is 95.4 mA·h/g, and the first charge?discharge efficiency is 84%. The discharge specific capacity retention rate is 67.4% at a high rate, and the discharge specific capacity retention rate after 100 cycles is 80%.

High-entropy oxides (HEO) are a novel material with the unique electrochemical properties, which are stabilized due to the high configurational entropy. In this paper, a high-entropy (Mg0.2Co0.2Ni0.2Cu0.2Zn0.2)O nanopowder with the sizes of 40-65 nm and a rocksalt structure was synthesized by a polyacrylamide gel method and subsequent calcination at 900 ℃ for 2 h in the presence of a mole ratio of acrylamide/metal cations of 120:1. The results show that the temperature of forming a single-phase (Mg0.2Co0.2Ni0.2Cu0.2Zn0.2)O nanopowder decreases with the increase of the mole ratio of acrylamide/metal cations. The HEO nanopowder has a specific capacitance of 402 F/g at a current density of 1 A/g. A rate capability of 62% appears at 20 A/g. The capacitance retention is 61% after 2 000 cycles at a current density of 5 A/g. It is indicted that (Mg0.2Co0.2Ni0.2Cu0.2Zn0.2)O nanopowder could be used as a prospective electrode material for supercapacitors.

As an energy storage device, supercapacitors are practically used in many fields due to their high power density and long service life. Among the components of supercapacitors, electrode materials play a key role in the performance of the device, it is thus of great significance to prepare electrode materials with superior electrochemical performance. NiCo2S4 was prepared by a hydrothermal method using nickel acetate and cobalt acetate as raw materials, glutathione as a morphology control agent and a sulfur source. The effect of hydrothermal reaction time on the microstructure, morphology and electrochemical performance of NiCo2S4 was investigated. The results show that the NiCo2S4 material prepared under the action of glutathione has a yolk?shell structure. The specific capacitance is 1 552.7 F/g when the current density is 0.5 A/g, and the specific capacitance can be maintained at 61.3% at 10 A/g. After 2 000 cycles, the specific capacitance retention of the material can be maintained at 79.3%. A supercapacitor can be assembled with NiCo2S4 and activated carbon as positive and negative electrodes, respectively. This hybrid supercapacitor can provide 33.9 W·h/kg energy density when the power density is 800 W/kg. After 2 000 charge and discharge cycles, the specific capacitance retention rate is 89%.

In this work, for exploring the controlled growth strategy of indium-oxide-based semiconductor film with preferred orientation and investigating the effect of crystal orientation on the photoelectric property, nitrogen-doped indium oxide (In2O3:N) films with (222) and (440) preferred orientation were prepared on quartz (SiO2) substrate by magnetron sputtering, respectively. The crystal structure, surface morphology, elemental composition and optical bandgap of In2O3:N films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer, respectively. The photoelectric properties of as-grown films with different preferred orientation were investigated. The results show that the nitrogen doping in In2O3:N films with different preferred orientation mainly is dominated by nitrogen substitutional oxygen. The band gap of indium oxide can be reduced to 2.89 eV by nitrogen doping. The In2O3:N film with (440) preferred orientation has a shorter photoresponse time than the (222) one.

Electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen is a promising green method to achieve sustainable energy supply. A NiCuP foam nickel hydrogen precipitation electrocatalyst was prepared by one-step hydrothermal method. The results show that the electrocatalyst has a good hydrogen reaction activity at 12 h at the nickel?copper ratio of 8:1 and the hydrothermal temperature of 140 ℃. The effect of modifier on the catalytic activity was also investigated. It is indicated that the addition of the modifier NaCl can provide a better ion interaction environment, thus significantly improving the catalytic performance. At a current density of 10 mA/cm2, the overpotential is 108 mV with a Tafel slope of 113 mV/dec (the overpotential change is 113 mV for every 10-fold change in current). The calculations show that the atomic d-p orbital interaction of Ni2P-Cu3P induces an enhancement of the electronic activity at the catalyst interface, thus reducing the activation barrier. Moreover, the addition of NaCl promotes the dissociation of H2O molecules into H ions, thus enhancing the catalytic activity of hydrogen evolution reaction. This work provides a research basis for the research and development of transition metal electrocatalysts.

In the field of catalyst support and adsorption, mesoporous petal-like MgAl2O4 has attracted much attention because of their large surface area, abundant and accessible catalytic sites and not easy to aggregate. Mesoporous petal-like MgAl2O4 was prepared by a molten salt assisted non-hydrolytic sol-gel method with aluminum wire as aluminum source, magnesium powder as magnesium source, absolute ethyl alcohol as a solvent and Na2MoO4 as a molten salt, respectively. The effects of heat treatment temperature and soaking time on the phase composition and morphology of petal-like MgAl2O4 were investigated by X-ray diffraction and field emission scanning electron microscopy. The microstructure of the petal-like MgAl2O4 was determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and the specific surface area and pore volume were measured by N2 adsorption-desorption analysis. The results show that heat treatment temperature and soaking time both have an influence on the morphology. MgAl2O4 prepared has a petal-like morphology with a length of 140-160 nm when the heat treatment temperature and time are 900 ℃ and 8 h. The specific surface area of the prepared MgAl2O4 is 76 m2/g. Based on the results by TEM and N2 adsorption-desorption analysis, the petal-like MgAl2O4 exhibits a mesoporous structure. This work paves a promising approach to prepare mesoporous petal-like MgAl2O4.

The formation and directional arrangement of silver halide nanorods in glass and their influences on the polarization properties were investigated. The results show that silver halide particles are easier to precipitate in a sodium boron rich phase. The optimum heat treatment condition for the crystallization is at 615 ℃ for holding time of 12 h. The formation and orientation of silver halide nanorods in glass is a winning combination of glass stretching temperature, stress and speed. The average diameter of AgCl nanorods in glass is 98 nm, the average length is 558 nm, the average aspect ratio of the nanorods is 1:5.6, and the nanorods are oriented along the stretching direction of glass when the stretching temperature is 570 ℃, the stress is 735 N, and the speed is 120 mm/min. According to the polarizing property of glass after high-pressure reduction, the more AgCl nanorods in the unit area of the stretched glass surface is, the higher the extinction ratio of the reduced glass will be.

With the enhancement of people's awareness of environmental protection, environmentally friendly polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic additives are constantly promoted, and the use of natural mineral vermidemite to replace non-environmentally friendly PVC plastic additives has become a new trend in the industry. A vermiculite sheet suspension was obtained by a liquid high-speed shear/grading centrifugal method, and the vermiculite nanosheet/polyvinyl chloride (PVC) composite plastic was prepared via solvent substitution. The influence of the content of vermiculite nanosheet on the ultraviolet, thermal conductivity, thermal stability and flame-retardant performance, tensile properties was investigated. The results show that the sizes of vermiculite are 150 nm-1.1 μm, and the original structure of vermiculite preserves. When the content of vermiculite nanosheet is 15% (in mass), the tensile strength of vermiculite nanosheet/PVC composite plastic is increased by 50.8%, the limit oxygen index value is increased by 7.3%, the thermal conductivity is decreased by 17.8%, and the aging heat stability time is increased by 140 min, and the dehydrothermal degradation time is increased by 24 min. This composite plastic has superior thermal stability and ultraviolet resistance. Adding vermiculite nanosheet into PVC can improve the properties of composite plastic, which has a practical significance in the preparation of high-performance PVC product.

In this work, the palygorskite-based aerogel was used as the carrier of essential oil to prepare high-loading fragrances and achieve long-term controlled release of essential oil. Palygorskite/wood fiber composite aerogels with a high specific surface area, a high porosity and a superior machinability were prepared with palygorskite as a three-dimensional network skeleton and wood fiber as a toughening/ reinforcing material. The loading efficiency of sweet orange essential oil on the aerogels is 96% and the volatile residual oil rate is <5%. The hydrophobic modification can increase the loading efficiency of aerogels on essential oil, thus prolonging the release time of essential oil. The volatilization rate of essential oil follows a three-stage change law of short-term rapid decline, stable rate and slow decline, showing a good speed control ability of composite aerogels on the volatilization of essential oil. The fragrance agent can maintain a constant release rate of 80 mg/h for 27 h at 60 ℃, and the cumulative release time is 31 h when the aerogels volume is 4 cm3. The controlled release rate of essential oil increases with the increase of aerogels volume. The release behavior of essential oil in aerogels follows the Korsmyer-Peppa model, which belongs to the Non-Fickian diffusion.

The low denitration activity and stability of MnOx/TiO2 catalyst are still challenging. In this work, a MnOx/TiO2 catalyst was modified via a polarization effect with tourmaline. Tourmaline with a proper fineness can improve the denitration performance of the catalytic material, obtaining the greater denitration rate above 90% in a wide temperature range and the prolonged high-efficiency denitration time. Based on the results of in-situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, the reaction mechanism of the catalysts before and after modification with tourmaline follows the Langmuir-Hinshelwood mechanism, and tourmaline polarization can accelerate the adsorption rate of reaction gas and generate intermediate products liable for subsequent reaction, thus improving the denitration performance.

Polysilicate aluminum chloride (PASC) flocculant was prepared with a coal gangue for the resource utilization of coal gangue. The effects of alkali cement ratio, roasting temperature, acid dosage, acid leaching temperature, liquid to solid ratio and acid leaching time on the performance of PASC were investigated. The physicochemical properties and microstructure of PASC were analyzed and the flocculation mechanism of PASC was discussed. The results show that the turbidity removal rate of PASC to coal slime water can reach 99.08% under the optimum conditions (i.e., alkali cement ratio of 0.9, roasting temperature of 900 ℃, acid dosage of 1.75 g/g, acid leaching temperature of 49 ℃, liquid to solid ratio of 8.9, and acid leaching time of 2.8 h). Since PASC is an amorphous polymer formed by the complexation of polysilicic acid, aluminum ions and hydroxyl groups, it has a rich spatial network structure and its flocculation mechanism includes adsorption bridging, trapping and sweeping, and charge neutralization.

Because of groundwater dissolution, the lining concrete of HLW geological repository release a “cement solution”, and its chemical composition undergoes a four-stage evolution process. A young cement solution standing for I-stage cement solution was mixed with Gaomiaozi (GMZ) bentonite powder, as suspensions to prompt static solid-liquid reaction in a batch style for evaluation of long-term chemical stability of the bentonite buffer material as used in China. During 256 d test, suspensions were harvested in different time intervals and separated into solid and liquid phases. The liquid phase were analyzed for pH, electrical conductivity and cation concentration. The solid phase was characterized by means of X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectra and scanning electron microscope-energy spectrum. The analysis results of solid and liquid indicated both the dissolution of montmorillonite mineral and the formation of mixed layer illite-smectite occur in GMZ bentonite at the same time under the action of young cement solution. This tends to reduce the buffer performance of the GMZ bentonite.

A phononic crystal coupled with the acoustic black hole structure was proposed based on the local resonance theory. The low frequency band gap was widened by utilizing the low frequency, broad band gap, and multi-modal properties of the acoustic black hole structure. The energy band structure, eigenmodes and attenuation characteristics of the phononic crystal were calculated by the finite element method. The generation mechanism of its band gap was analyzed, and the influence of the geometric parameters (i.e., the structural parameters of the acoustic black hole) on the band gap was discussed. The results show that the phononic crystal has multiple band gaps at 1 600 Hz, and the first complete band gap ranges from 12 to 805 Hz. The band gap coverage below 40 Hz is 70%, and the band gap coverage within 1 600 Hz reaches 97.3%. The starting and cut-off frequencies of the first complete band gap are mainly determined by the vibrational modes of the scatterer and the acoustic black hole structure. The starting frequency of the first complete band gap increases with increasing the height of the acoustic black hole structure short side. The width and short side height of the acoustic black hole structure and the height of the short plate have an effect on the cut-off frequency and the width of the first complete band gap.

Aqueous Zn iodine battery (AZIDB) is recognized as one of the most promising energy storage devices in the future electric power storage area due to its high theoretical specific capacity, superior energy density, good rate capability, abundant and low-cost of raw materials and high safety. However, the shuttle effect of polyiodide seriously increases the self-discharge current, decreases the Coulombic efficiency and shortens the cycle life of AZIDB, further limiting the large-scale application. In this review, the configuration of AZIDB, the corresponding energy storage mechanism and the reasons of shuttle effect were represented. The suppression strategies of shuttle effect in AZIDB from cathode, electrolyte and separator aspects were described. In addition, we summarized the current problems and shared thoughts on the future research development in AZIDBs to provide a reference for promoting the industrialization of AZIDBs.

Since the specific capacity of silicon monoxide anode material (SiOx) has nearly four times greater than that of graphite, it is thus considered as the most promising next-generation anode material for full commercialization of Li-ion batteries. However, the problem of low initial Coulomb efficiency (ICE) has long plagued the application of SiOx. Pre-lithiation can increase the ICE of SiOx and improve the energy density of Li-ion battery systems, paving an effective way for the full-scale application of SiOx. This review represented recent development and application on SiOx anode pre-lithiation. The typical schemes and the corresponding effects were described, and the reaction mechanisms, challenges, and potential solutions were given. In addition, the future development on pre-lithiation technology was also prospected.

Nearly zero thermal expansion (NZTE) materials have a high dimensional stability with a less possibility producing thermal stress under variable-temperature environment. Therefore, they can be used in aerospace, microelectronics, optics, precision devices and other fields. Mn-based antiperovskite compounds Mn3AX (A=metal or semiconductor element, X=N or C) have attracted recent attention due to their negative or nearly zero thermal expansion (NTE/NZTE) properties within a wide temperature range, isotropy and easy regulation. Mn3AX compounds exhibit rich magnetic structures, and their NTE/NZTE properties are closely related to the magnetic phase transitions and intense lattice?spin correlation. The magnetic structure and magnetic phase transition can be changed via optimizing the composition, thus effectively regulating the thermal expansion behavior and obtaining other functional properties. The existing methods to obtain the wide temperature range NTE/NZTE properties mainly include the broadening of the NTE behavior in the magnetic phase transition temperature range, regulation of specific magnetic phases that critically affect negative/zero thermal expansion properties, and multi-phase composition of the materials with different thermal expansion coefficients. This review represented the experimental and theoretical studies on the regulation of abnormal thermal expansion behavior of Mn3AX antiperovskite compounds in recent years. The effective regulation and in-depth analysis of the abnormal NTE/ZTE properties of Mn-based antiperovskite compounds can reveal the physical origin of the anomaly in thermal expansion, which can greatly promote the application of these materials. This review also summarized recent research progress on the regulation strategy and mechanism of the NTE/ZTE properties of Mn-based antiperovskite, and prospected the future direction in this field.

Blast furnace slag is a type of bulk solid waste generated by the iron and steel industry. The high value-added utilization of blast furnace slag has been the focus of research in the relevant industries, which is of great significance to the green development of the steel industry. This work focuses on blast furnace slag and reviews the progress of its use as a photocatalytic material for wastewater treatment in the last five years. Firstly, we introduce the basic information of blast furnace slag, such as the formation and mineral composition of blast furnace slag, the feasibility of using it as a photocatalytic material, the current situation of comprehensive utilization at home and abroad, and the problems in comprehensive utilization. Secondly, the current status of photocatalytic technology is briefly explained, covering its mechanism of action, performance improvement methods and development trends. Then, the progress of research on blast furnace slag as a photocatalytic material for wastewater purification is described. The existing literature on the factors affecting its photocatalytic efficiency and ways to improve it are discussed. Finally, the treatment and application of blast furnace slag-based photocatalytic materials are summarized, and its sustainable resource utilization is also prospected.