Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) play a critical role in reducing carbon emissions in the automotive industry. However, they face challenges related to safety and performance failures. Smart technologies offer a promising solution to address these issues. Bioinspired microcapsules are a common approach to enhancing the performance and safety of smart LIBs. However, despite their potential, this area has not been thoroughly explored. This review provides an overview of the preparation methods for microcapsules, including physical, chemical, and physicochemical techniques. These microcapsules are categorized based on their mechanisms into electrode self-healing burst microcapsules, interphase-forming sustained-release microcapsules, live-lithium sustained-release microcapsules, and flame-retardant burst microcapsules. A comprehensive analysis of their bioinspired design concepts, mechanisms, and performance is presented, along with the design criteria for microcapsules suitable for LIBs. Finally, the review explores the potential applications of microcapsule technologies in LIBs and their future trends, such as enhancing existing technologies for novel applications like solid-state batteries and developing new types of microcapsules. This review aims to provide a foundation for the implementation of microcapsule technologies in LIBs and to highlight the latest advancements in smart batteries.

Carbon materials meet the stringent practical requirements for anodes for potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) due to their abundance and chemical stability. The major issue of carbon-based anodes is the low specific capacity and poor cyclic stability. Equally importantly, scalable synthesis approaches for electrodes are highly desired for the future application in large-scale energy storage systems. Herein, we developed a novel composite of Sb encapsulated in N/P co-doped opened hollow carbon spheres (N/POHCs) with high Sb loading through a simple carbonization and subsequent impregnation process. Beneficial from the virtue of abundant pyridinic-N-P bonding and opened hollow spherical structure advantages, N/POHCs exhibit much lower diffusion barrier than that of pure carbon, prominent Sb carrier capability, as well as the extraordinary resistance to volume expansion. The resulting Sb@N/POHCs composite delivers a high specific capacity of 533.3 mAh g- 1 at 0.1 A g- 1 with an initial Coulombic efficiency of 83 %, and can maintain a specific capacity of 345 mAh g- 1 at 1 A g- 1 after 4000 cycles. This work provides rational structure design with universal carrier capability of active materials to achieve high-capacity and long cycle life anode for advanced PIBs accompanied by the potential for large-scale production.

Conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) with enhanced electrical conductivity and insolubility against liquid electrolytes are receiving increasing attention as promising organic anode materials for rechargeable batteries. However, the poor electronic conductivity and restricted-access active sites limit the specific capacity and cycling stability of CMPs and the potassium-storage mechanism in hetero-incorporated CMPs not well understood. Herein, a highly conjugated polymer network with hierarchically interconnected porous structure was deliberately constructed by selecting 4,7-dibromo-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (BT) and 1,3,5-triacetylene benzene as the acceptor and donor, respectively. The good planarity and high pi-electron delocalization of BT units lead to an enhanced conductivity of BT-CMP. Ex-XPS analysis and DFT calculations reveal that the synergistic coupling of S and N enables a prompt complexation and release of K+ ions and improves the coordination activity of the C--N active sites. More importantly, the hierarchically interconnected porous networks make active sites facilely accessible and accommodate the volumetric expansion effectively, enabling highly stable storage of K-ions. Therefore, the as-prepared BT-CMP anode displays a high specific capacity (462 mAh/g- 1 at 30 mA g-1 after 100 cycles) and ultra-long stability (226.2 mAh g-1 at 1000 mA g-1 after 2000 cycles without significant attenuation) in potassium-ion storage.

Metal-organic frameworks are recognized as active electrode materials for rechargeable batteries due to their structural diversity, abundant electrochemical active sites and large ion diffusion channels. Herein, nickel-terephthalic acid metal-organic frameworks (Ni-PTA MOFs) with different crystal and morphology structures are synthesized via a facile solvothermal method by simply adjusting the nature of solvent. Due to the fewest guest molecules and porous structure, the Ni-PTA resulting from the combinations of DMF and EtOH exhibits the comparatively higher chemical/thermal stability and shortened ion diffusion pathway. As a result, it exhibits a high discharge/charge capacity of 2196.4 and 1762.3 mAh g −1 at the first cycle and retains 1300 mAh g −1 after 50 cycles at 100 mA g −1 when tested as anode materials for Li-ion batteries. Even when the current density reaches 4000 mA g −1 , it maintains a capacity of 452 mAh g −1 . This work provides possibilities for regulating the crystal and morphology structure of MOFs as high performance anode materials for lithium ion batteries.

Potassium-ion hybrid capacitors (PIHCs) are candidate devices for large-scale electricity storage due to their attractive combination of high energy density of batteries and high power capacity of supercapacitors. But the much larger ionic size and higher mass of K+ in comparison to that of Li+ and Na+ make it difficult to identify a high capacity and rate capability anode material. Here we fabricate pyridinic-N rich hollow carbon nanospheres (NHCNs) with tunable shell size by a facile core-shell polymerization and carbonization method. By simply regulating the shell thickness, we can control the carbon nanospheres with appropriate surface area and defects/functional groups level, which are critical in determining their potassium storage capability. Due to the high nitrogen content (8.56 at.%), optimal porosity and shell size (similar to 20 nm), the NHCNs-420 exhibits a dominant surface-control behavior of a high capacity of 197.5 mAh g(-1) at a high rate of 5 A g(-1) and long-term stability of 280.3 mAh g(-1) over 2500 cycles at 1 A g(-1), which compares favorably with most previously reported carbon-based electrodes. Moreover, the kinetics matched NHCNs-420//porous carbon PIHC device combines high energy and power density, demonstrating the promise of using NHCNs for potassium-ion storage.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted numerous attentions as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) owing to their unique tunable structures. However, utilizing MOFs in electrochemical devices has been hampered by the inferior electrical conductivity and poor stability that dominate the cycling stability and rate performance of electrodes. Herein, a Ni-PTA/graphene hybrid with porous spherical structure has been successfully constructed by interconnected needle-like Ni-MOFs nanocrystals after the introduction of amine functionalized graphene (NG). The conductivity and structural stability of the composites have been greatly improved due to the chemical bonds formed between the N-containing graphene and the MOFs. When used as anode materials for LIBs, the synthesized Ni-PTA/NG composite shows a superior Li storage with a reversible capacity of 1585 mAh g-1 at a current density of 200 mA g-1. In addition, Ni-PTA/NG composite demonstrates an ameliorative rate performance (340 mAh g-1 at 5 A g-1) and long-term cyclability (570 mAh g-1 at 1 A g-1 after 420 repeated cycles), significantly higher than traditional graphene/MOF composite materials. The novel method in this work paves a new way to form 3D structure by using NG to induce MOF germination, which may be extended to preparing other metal/metal oxides materials for electrochemical energy-storage systems.

The high theoretical capacity makes metal phosphides appropriate anode candidates for Li-ion batteries, but their applications are restricted due to the limited structural instability caused by the huge volume change, as in other high-capacity materials. Here, we design an integrated electrode consisting of Sn4P3 nanoparticles sandwiched between transition-metal carbide (MXene) nanosheets. Tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAOH) plays an essential role in the formation of such sandwich structures by producing negatively charged MXene sheets with expanded layer spacings. The strong C-O-P oxygen bridge bond enables tight anchoring of Sn4P3 nanoparticles on the surface of MXene layers. The obtained Sn4P3-based nanocomposites exhibit high reversible capacity with an initial Coulombic efficiency of 82% and outstanding rate performance (1519 mAh cm-3 at a current density of 5 A g-1). The conductive and flexible MXene layers on both sides of Sn4P3 nanoparticles provide the desired electric conductivity and elastomeric space to accommodate the large volume change of Sn4P3 during lithiation. Therefore, the Sn4P3@MXene hybrid exhibits an enhanced cyclic performance of 820 mAh g-1 after 300 cycles at a current density of 1 A g-1.

Honeycomb-like nitrogen-doped porous carbon (HNC) is prepared by using poly(2,6-diaminopyridine) as nitrogen-enriched precursor and silica as hard template. After carbonization and template removal, the obtained HNC possesses an interconnected 3D hierarchical porous structure and a nitrogen level up to 15.31 at.%. Owing to the hierarchical porous structure and abundant active sites in the carbon matrix, the HNC exhibits an excellent capacitive performance with a high specific capacitance of 398 F g−1 at a current density of 0.1 A g−1 and exceptional cycling stability (110.4% retention after 5000 cycles). This work provides a facile and efficient strategy for the large-scale production of nitrogen superdoped interconnected hierarchical carbon framework for high performance supercapacitors.

Here, we report a nano-sized red phosphorous/biomass-derived porous carbon (P@BDPC) which is employed as anode materials for lithium ion batteries (LIBs) via a facile vaporization-condensation-conversion strategy (VCC) with tobacco stem as the carbon precursor. The biomass-derived porous carbon not only acts as the host of red phosphorus to enhance the electrical conductivity, but also minimizes the volume expansion (approximate to 400%) during cycling. The obtained P@BDPC composite with a high red phosphorus content (62.1 wt%) delivers a high specific capacity of 1689 mA h g(-1) at 500 mA g(-1) with an initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE) of 91.7% and superior rate capability of 599 mA h g(-1 )at 30 A g(-1). Furthermore, a high reversible capacity of 918 mA h g(-1) can be retained over 600 cycles at 5 A g(-1), indicating a remarkable cycle stability. More importantly, the introduction of agriculture waste-tobacco stem contributes to building low-cost, high-performance anode materials.

A class of 2-aminopyridine 1-oxides are discovered to be effective ligands for the Cu-catalyzed amination of less reactive (hetero)aryl chlorides. A wide range of functionalized (hetero)aryl chlorides reacted with various aliphatic amines to afford the desired products in good to excellent yields under the catalyst of CuI/2-aminopyridine 1-oxides. Furthermore, the catalyst system worked well for the coupling of cyclic secondary amines and N-methyl benzylamine with (hetero)aryl chlorides.

Pillared graphene composite (GP) is prepared by in situ polymerization and subsequent carbonization of graphene oxide (GO) and polyaniline (PANI) precursors. The interlayer spacing of GO layer can reach 1.418 nm with 200% increase compared with the original spacing of 0.706 nm by the intercalation of aniline monomer through π-π conjugate and electrostatic interactions. After carbonization, the graphene composite is reinforced by the intercalated PANI-converted carbon pillars and also has a nitrogen-doped level of ca. 4.49 atom%. Electrochemical characterization studies show that the GP composite exhibits a high reversible capacity of 653 mAh g-1 at a current density of 100 mA g-1 and an excellent rate capability (343 mAh g-1 at a current density of 1 A g-1), which are superior to graphene owing to the unique pillared and the nitrogen-doped structure.

There can be a fine line between therapeutic intervention and substance abuse, and this point is clearly exemplified in herbal cannabis and its products. Therapies involving cannabis have been the treatment of last resort for some cases of refractory epilepsy, and this has been among the strongest medical justifications for legalization of marijuana. In order to circumvent the narcotic effects of Δ 9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), many studies have concentrated on its less intoxicating isomer cannabidiol (CBD). However, CBD, like all natural cannabinoids, is a controlled substance in most countries, and its conversion into THC can be easily performed using common chemicals. We describe here the anticonvulsant properties of 8,9-dihydrocannibidiol (H2CBD), a fully synthetic analogue of CBD that is prepared from inexpensive, non-cannabis derived precursors. H2CBD was found to have effectiveness comparable to CBD both for decreasing the number and reducing the severity of pentylenetetrazole-induced seizures in rats. Finally, H2CBD cannot be converted by any reasonable synthetic route into THC, and thus has the potential to act as a safe, noncontroversial drug for seizure mitigation.

Pyridine-enriched graphene sheets (DAP-RGOs) have been successfully prepared at mild reaction conditions from graphene oxide (GO) and 2, 6-diaminopyridine (DAP). High nitrogen content in DAP-RGOs can be readily achieved in a range of 13.1–17.2% by controlling the feed ratios of reactants. The pyridine moieties grafted on the graphene sheets take place a reversible redox reaction and demonstrate faradaic capacitive behavior. Due to its high density (1.59 g cm−3) and reasonable nitrogen content (14.4%), the as-prepared DAP-RGO sample exhibits both high volumetric and gravimetric capacitances of 504 F cm−3 and 317 F g−1 at current density of 0.1 A g−1 in 1 M H2SO4 electrolyte, respectively. Furthermore, the assembled supercapacitor shows an excellent cycling stability with capacitance retention of 90% after 5000 cycles at 2 A g−1.

A copper(II) complex (CuL, 1) with aminothioether ligand and its new inclusion complex with beta-cyclodextrin (CuL/beta-CD, 2) have been prepared successfully. The binding modes of both complexes with calf thymus DNA were investigated by UV-visible and circular dichroism spectroscopies. Results show that both complexes mainly adopt electrostatic attraction binding mode with DNA and binding constants are (2.02 +/- 0.02) x 10(3) and (1.79 +/- 0.05) x 10(3) M-1, respectively. Both complexes are able to cleave pBR322 plasmid DNA efficiently in the presence of ascorbic acid and the activity of 2 is higher than that of 1. The DNA cleavages by 1 and 2 were inhibited strongly in the presence of DMSO and tert-butyl alcohol, which suggests that hydroxyl radicals are reactive oxygen species for the cleavage.