The application of lithium metal as an anode material for next generation high energy‐density batteries has to overcome the major bottleneck that is the seemingly unavoidable growth of Li dendrites caused by non‐uniform electrodeposition on the electrode surface. This problem must be addressed by clarifying the detailed mechanism. In this work the mass‐transfer of Li‐ions is investigated, a key process controlling the electrochemical reaction. By a phase field modeling approach, the Li‐ion concentration and the electric fields are visualized to reveal the role of three key experimental parameters, operating temperature, Li‐salt concentration in electrolyte, and applied current density, on the microstructure of deposited Li. It is shown that a rapid depletion of Li‐ions on electrode surface, induced by, e.g., low operating temperature, diluted electrolyte and a high applied current density, is the underlying driving force for non‐uniform electrodeposition of Li. Thus, a viable route to realize a dendrite‐free Li plating process would be to mitigate the depletion of Li‐ions on the electrode surface. The methodology and results in this work may boost the practical applicability of Li anodes in Li metal batteries and other battery systems using metal anodes.

Manipulation of resonant dielectric nanostructures is of paramount importance for next-generation photonic devices. Traditionally, researchers use two-dimensional or phase-change materials for this purpose. However, the former leads to small efficiency, while the latter lacks continuous changes. Here, we provide an alternative approach through laser-induced modification. Specifically, via a laser ablation process we synthesized molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) nanoparticles (NPs), the composition of which we then controlled through laser fragmentation. It causes a transformation of MoS₂ into its oxide MoO_3−x, which, in turn, results in pronounced modification of the optical response, owing to a large difference between their optical constants. In addition, laser-fragmented NPs have a several times larger photothermal response, compared to the original MoS₂ and classical silicon NPs. Thus, our MoS₂-based laser-tunable NPs open up a new perspective for resonant nanophotonics, in particular, photothermal therapy.

Photocatalytic oxidation of graphene with ZnO nanoparticles was found to create self-assembled graphene oxide/graphene (G/GO) photosensitive heterostructures, which can be used as memristors. Oxygen groups released during photodecomposition of water molecules on the nanoparticles under ultraviolet light, oxidized graphene, locally forming the G/GO heterojunctions with ultra-high density. The G/GO nanostructures have non-linear current–voltage characteristics and switch the resistance in the dark and under white light, providing four resistive states at room temperature. Photocatalytic oxidation of graphene with ZnO nanoparticles is proposed as an effective method for creating two-dimensional memristors with a photoresistive switching for ultra-high capacity non-volatile memory.