Anode-free aqueous zinc metal batteries (AZMBs) offer significant potential for energy storage due to their low cost and environmental benefits. Ti₃C₂T_x MXene provides several advantages over traditional metallic current collectors like Cu and Ti, including better Zn plating affinity, lightweight, and flexibility. However, self-freestanding MXene current collectors in AZMBs remain underexplored, likely due to challenges with Zn deposition reversibility. This study investigates the combination of a Ti₃C₂T_x self-freestanding film with advanced electrolyte engineering, specifically examining the effects of Li-salt and propylene carbonate (PC) as additives on Zn plating reversibility. While using Li⁺ ions as an additive alone facilitates uniform Zn deposition on bulk metals through the electrostatic shielding effect, the addition of Li-salt negatively impacts Zn plating uniformity on Ti₃C₂T_x. Meanwhile, using PC additive alone forms an organic SEI layer on Ti₃C₂T_x and causes Zn agglomeration. The use of both additives together results in a ZnF₂-containing hybrid SEI layer with improved interfacial kinetics, promoting more uniform Zn deposition. This approach achieves an average Coulombic efficiency (CE) of 96.8% over 150 cycles (a maximum CE of 97.8%). The study highlights the strategic difference in electrolyte design, emphasizing the need for tailored approaches to optimize Zn deposition on MXenes, contrasting with traditional metallic current collectors.

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a versatile gas phase coating technique that allows coating of complex structured materials, as well as high-surface area materials such as nanoparticles. In this work, ALD is used to deposit a lutetium oxide layer on TiO₂ nanoparticles (P25) in a fluidized bed reactor to produce particles for nuclear medical applications. Two precursors were tested: the commercially available Lu(TMHD)₃ and the custom-made Lu(HMDS)₃. Using Lu(TMHD)₃, a lutetium loading up to 15 wt. % could be obtained, while using Lu(HMDS)₃, only 0.16 wt. % Lu could be deposited due to decomposition of the precursor. Furthermore, it was observed that vibration-assisted fluidization allows for better fluidization of the nanoparticles and hence a higher degree of coating.