Nanoporous graphene membranes are attractive for molecular separations, but it remains challenging to maintain sufficient mechanical strength during scalable fabrication and module development. Inspired by the composite structure of cell membranes and cell walls, a large‐area atomically thin nanoporous graphene membrane supported by a fiber‐reinforced structure with strong interlamellar adhesion is designed. Compared with other graphene‐based membranes of large scale, the fracture stress, fracture strength, and tensile stiffness of the composite membranes can be enhanced by a factor of 17, 67, and 94, respectively. This fiber‐reinforced structure also confers stability of the composite membrane to different curvature states and repeated bending processes after 10 000 times, which provides an opportunity for modularization. The breathable function of such membrane with an ultrahigh gas permeance (≈8.6–23 L m −2 d −1 Pa −1 ) and an ultralow water vapor transportation rate (WVTR) (≈23–129 g L m −2 d −1 ) is observed, superior to most commercial materials. This work provides a facile method to fabricate large‐area graphene membranes and paves the road to practical application in the membrane separation field for other 2D films.

Anodes based on silicon/carbon composites promise their commercial prospects for next-generation lithium ion batteries owing to their merits of high specific capacity, enhanced ionic and electronic con-ductivity, and excellent compatibility. Herein, a series of carbonaceous framework/Si composites are designed and prepared by rational waste utilization. N, P codoped foam-like porous carbon/Si composites (FPC@Si) and N, P codoped carbon coated Si composites (NPC@Si) are fabricated by utilizing expired milk powder as a carbon source with facile treatment methods. The results indicate that the porous carbon skeleton and carbon shell can improve the conductivity of Si and stabilize the solid electrolyte interfaces to avoid direct contact between active material and electrolyte. Moreover, the influence of drastic volume expansion of Si on the anode can be efficiently alleviated during charge/discharge processes. Therefore, the Si/C composite electrodes present excellent long-term cycling stability and rate capability. The elec-trochemical performance shows that the reversible capacity of FPC@Si and NPC@Si can be respectively maintained at 587.3 and 731.2 mAh g-1 after 1000 charge/discharge cycles under 400 mA g-1. Most sig-nificantly, the optimized Si/C composite electrodes exhibit outstanding performance in the full cell tests, promising them great potential for practical applications. This study not only provides a valuable guid-ance for recycling of waste resources, but also supports a rational design strategy of advanced composite materials for high-performance energy storage devices. (c) 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The electrochemical performance of metal-air batteries is sensitive to environmental humidity, which significantly limits its wide application in an air environment. In this paper, a waterproof and breathable polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite membrane has been successfully synthesized by the water spreading method for metal-air batteries. The effects of spreading times and fillers (hydrophobic SiO2 and silicalite-1) on the water vapor and air permeability of the PDMS membrane were investigated. The results demonstrate that increasing the spreading times and adding an appropriate amount of hydrophobic SiO2 can improve the waterproof quality and air permeability of the PDMS membrane. The optimized membrane was assembled into a metal-air battery, and the effects of the membrane on the running resistance, cycle number, and polarization voltage of the battery were evaluated. The hydrophobic SiO2-PDMS membrane significantly reduces the running resistance of the battery and improves the cycle number of lithium-air batteries by 25% and that of zinc-air batteries by 100% in an air environment (40% RH, 25 degrees C). The polarization voltage is also significantly reduced, indicating great potential in applications.

Silicon/carbon composites promise more commercial prospects as anode materials for lithium ion batteries considering their excellent ionic and electronic conductivity as well as structural stability. Herein, N, P codoped foam-like porous carbon/Si composites (FPC@Si) and N, P codoped carbon coated Si composites (NPC@Si) are successfully fabricated by using expired milk powder as a carbon source with different treatment methods. The results indicate that the porous carbon skeleton and carbon shell can alleviate the negative effect of drastic volume expansion of silicon nanoparticles, improve the conductivity of the Si based electrode and avoid direct contact between silicon nanoparticles and electrolyte. Therefore, the composite electrodes present excellent long-term cycling stability and rate performance. The electrochemical tests show that the reversible capacity of FPC@Si and NPC@Si can be respectively maintained at 587.3 and 731.2 mAh g-1 after 1000 charge/discharge cycles under 400 mA g-1 . Moreover, the optimized FPC@Si electrodes exhibit excellent electrochemical performance in LiFePO4||FPC@Si full cell tests, promising the great potential of practical applications. The strategy in this study can also be used as valuable guidance for the rational design of high-performance energy materials in various other energy storage fields.

The electrochemical performance of metal-air batteries is sensitive to environmental humidity. In this paper, waterproof and air-permeable polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)/polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membranes were prepared for alleviating these issues in metal-air battery. The effects of membrane fillers (hydrophilic SiO2, hydrophobic SiO2, activated carbon, silicalite-1) on the water vapor and air permeability of PDMS membranes were investigated. The results showed that, adding an appropriate amount of silicalite-1 can improve the waterproof and air permeability of PDMS membrane. The silicalite-1/PDMS membrane significantly reduces the running resistance of the battery, and improves the cycle number of Li-air batteries by 130% and that of Zn-air batteries by 43% in the air environment (40% RH, 25°C). The polarization voltage is also significantly reduced, indicating great potential in applications.

Novel hierarchical porous Co3O4/polyaniline-based carbon has been successfully designed and synthesized by a simple drop coating/carbonization method for supercapacitor electrodes. The Co3O4/polyaniline-based carbon electrodes exhibit improved conductivity, large specific surface area (1688.2 m(2) g(-1)), high specific capacitance (2122.5 F g(-1), 0.5 A g(-1)), along with high rate capability (73.2% after increasing the current densities 40-fold) and stable energy-storage performance (specific capacitance retention of 95.3% after 10,000 cycles). The hierarchical porous structure can facilitate the transportation of electrolyte ions, and buffer the volume changes during charge/discharge process. The results demonstrate the potential of the electrodes for the future generation supercapacitors. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have attracted lots of attention in membrane separation due to their large surface area, well-defined pore structure and good thermal stability. In this work, evaporation/casting method was performed to fabricate COF-LZU1 membranes. p-Phenylenediamine (PDA) powder and 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxaldehyde (TFB) solution were alternatively evaporated and cast onto polyacrylonitrile (PAN) membrane to prepare COF-LZU1 membranes and employed for the separation of dyes. The effects of PDA evaporation temperature, time, layer number and reactant amount in each COF-LZU1 layer were studied, and the long-term operation was evaluated. The COF-LZU1 membranes showed remarkable rejection (> 90%) for different dyes (Mw 350–800), low rejection n (< 8%) for salts and high solvent permeance (> 500 L m−2 h−1 MPa−1). The COF-LZU1 membrane also displayed excellent long-term operation stability, suggesting potential for rejection and desalination of dyes. Evaporation/casting method was employed for fabrication of COF-LZU1 membranes, and the membranes displayed high rejection (>90%) for different dyes (Mw 350-800) and solvent permeance (> 500 L m−2 h−1 MPa−1), and low rejection (<8%) for salts, suggesting potential for rejection and desalination of dyes solutions.