Interfacial

This book focuses on the development of high-performance carbon electrodes for sodium ion batteries (SIBs). By proposing folded-graphene as the high-density cathode with excellent rate capability, it provides insight into the interplay between oxygen functional groups and folded texture. It also highlights the superiority of ether electrolytes matching with carbon anodes, which are shown to deliver largely improved electrochemical performance. The achievements presented offer a valuable contribution to the carbon-based electrodes in SIBs.

This book examines the meso- and nanoscopic aspects of fluid adsorption in porous solids using a non-invasive method of small angle neutron scattering (SANS) and small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS).

This thesis presents a series of experimental techniques based on scanning probe microscopy, which make it possible access the degree of freedom of protons both in real and energy space. These novel techniques and methods allow direct visualization of the concerted quantum tunneling of protons within the hydrogen-bonded network and quantification of the quantum component of a single hydrogen bond at a water–solid interface for the first time. Furthermore, the thesis demonstrates that the anharmonic quantum fluctuations of hydrogen nuclei further weaken the weak hydrogen bonds and strengthen the strong ones. However, this trend was reversed when the hydrogen bond coupled to the local environment. These pioneering findings substantially advance our understanding of the quantum nature of H bonds at the molecular level.