P-type organic cathode materials typically exhibit high redox potentials and fast redox kinetics, presenting broad application prospects in aqueous zinc batteries (AZBs). However, most of the reported p-type organic cathode materials exhibit limited capacity (<100 mAh g −1 ), which is attributable to the low mass content ratio of oxidation-reduction active functional groups in these materials. Herein, we report a high-capacity p-type organic material, 5,12-dihydro-5,6,11,12-tetraazatetracene (DHTAT), for aqueous zinc batteries. Both experiments and calculation indicate the charge storage of DHTAT mainly involves the adsorption/desorption of ClO 4 − on the −NH− group. Benefitting from the high mass content ratio of the −NH− group in DHATA molecule, the DHATA electrode demonstrates a remarkable capacity of 224 mAh g −1 at a current density of 50 mA g −1 with a stable voltage of 1.12 V. Notably, after 5000 cycles at a high current density of 5 A g −1 , DHTAT retains 73 % of its initial capacity, showing a promising cycling stability. In addition, DHTAT also has good low-temperature performance and can stably cycle at −40 °C for 4000 cycles at 1 A g −1 , making it a competitive candidates cathode material for low-temperature batteries.

Designing multifunctional cathode materials is essential to address the critical issues of poor cycle stability and sluggish reaction kinetics in the aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs). Here, the spinel-type bimetallic MnCo2O4 with a porous, layered, irregular cubic structure was synthesized using hydrothermal method, which was employed as a cathode material for high performance AZIBs. The design strategy involving bimetallic oxides offers more electrochemically active sites than monometallic oxides. Simultaneously, the unique porous structure of MnCo2O4 facilitates faster ions and electrons transport, which alleviates the problems of volume expansion and structural collapse that occurring in the cathode material during cycling. As a result, the MnCo2O4 electrode exhibits superior zinc storage performance with a high reversible specific capacity of 332.1 mAh g-1 and excellent cycle stability after 65 cycles at a current density of 0.3 A g-1.

Hard carbon is expected to be a high-capacity anode material for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). However, its Na+ storage performance, especially the low discharge capacity, remains a great challenge. Herein, the soft-hard carbon composite anodes with high degree of graphitization were synthesized via low-temperature pyrolysis (at only 900 degrees C) of Cobalt-catalyzed perylene tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA-Co) and cotton, with subsequent removal of cobalt. The composite resulting from a 2:3 mass ratio of soft to hard carbon exhibits a good discharge capacity of 355.81 mAh g(-1) at a current density of 50 mA g(-1) and an enhanced initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE) of 81.41%. The enhanced electrochemical storage performance of cotton is attributed to the introduction of PTCDA-Co, which creates low-defect graphitic layer, hierarchical porous channels, and carbon shielding coating on hard carbon.

Recently, a high-entropy strategy has attracted extensive attention and is applied to the preparation of electrode materials for energy storage batteries, aiming to improve electrochemical performance. It is found that adjusting the conformational entropy of the material can significantly enhance ion and electron transport efficiency, as well as improve the structural stability of the host material. However, there still remains a lack of deep understanding into the high-entropy strategy, specifically regarding how this approach can alter the intrinsic properties of the material. In this work, the Na4Fe(3)(PO4)(2)P2O7 is designed and prepared as a model material with higher entropy, and ultimately, an optimized sample of Na3.9Fe2.6V0.1Mn0.1Cu0.1Mg0.1(PO4)(2)(P2O7) is achieved. The results indicate that increasing the entropy value of the material notably enhances its crystal structure, diffusion kinetics, and interfacial stability. Consequently, this optimized sample demonstrates deep insertion/extraction of 2.8 Na+, yielding an impressively high capacity of 122.3 mAh g(-1) at 0.1C, alongside an ultra-high rate capability of 100C. Remarkably, it also sustains performance over 14 000 cycles at 50C. This study underscores a method for fabricating high-performance electrode materials through the implementation of the entropy strategy.

Unstable solid electrolyte interface (SEI) and dendrite growth hinder the development of rechargeable lithium-metal batteries (LMBs) at low temperature (<=-20 degrees C). In this work, regulating the concentration of Li salt increases the proportion of anions in Li+ solvation structure, thereby forming a denser SEI on Li anode. The optimized solvation structure exhibits fast charge transfer kinetics and high-voltage (dis)charge performance. As a result, Li||Cu cells with modified electrolyte work over 400 h and maintaining an average coulombic efficiency of 98.05%, the Li||LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 cells (N/P = 3) are capable of one hundred stable cycles with a capacity retention of 93.7% even at -40 degrees C. These findings confirm the effect of ion-pairing and anion-derived SEI on the long-term cycling of LMBs, contributing a promising solution to the development of low-temperature LMBs. A localized medium-concentration electrolyte is designed by adjusting the concentration of Li salt. This medium-concentration electrolyte increases the proportion of anions in Li+ solvation structure, promoting efficient desolvation and consistent Li+ ions deposition. Even at -40 degrees C, a dense and smooth anion-derived SEI is obtained, which enables LMBs to operate stably in extreme environment.image

Na2FePO4F (NFPF) is an iron-based fluorophosphate that possesses a simple 2D sodium ion channel structure. It is regarded as a promising cathode material for sodium-ion batteries because of its low cost, abundant availability of resources, and nontoxic nature. Nevertheless, its application is significantly constrained by its limited intrinsic conductivity and poor cycling stability. In this study, we present an approach aimed at improving its chemical properties through an in situ Al2O3 coating. Al2O3 coating can inhibit particle agglomeration caused by the sol-gel synthesis process and enhance the ion transmission efficiency of the material. In addition, the uniform Al2O3 coating layer contributes to increasing stability of the crystal structure while simultaneously forming a stable interface layer on the electrode during cycling, which improves the material's cycling stability. The optimized sample NFPF/C/Al-0.05 demonstrates a notable reversible capacity of 117 mA h g-1 at 0.1 C, a remarkable rate capability (69.6 mA h g-1 at 5 C), and commendable cycle performance (retention of 70.2% after 1000 cycles at 5 C). This study enhances the intrinsic conductivity and cycling stability of Na2FePO4F through an in situ Al2O3 coating strategy, offering a novel method for designing high-performance Na2FePO4F cathode materials.

In high -temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFC), phosphate anions act as a poisonous ' spectator species ' , binding strongly to the Pt surface through Pt - O bonds similarly to O 2 . This blocks the Pt active sites, resulting in slow ORR kinetics. Herein, we synthesized ultrafine L 1 1 -PtCu intermetallic compound nanoparticles (O-PtCu/S-C) loaded on an S -doped carbon support with an average size of about 3 nm through wet impregnation followed by hydrogen annealing, which showed high resistance to phosphate poisoning. The introduction of S notably improved the metal -support interaction and prevented particle growth during annealing, which is beneficial for the uniform distribution of nanoparticles and prevents detachment and agglomeration during ADT. The pronounced Cu -Pt electronic interaction in O-PtCu/S-C induced electron transfer from Cu to Pt, which effectively modified the electronic structure of Pt and weakened the adsorption energy of phosphate anions on the catalyst surface. In addition, the phosphate poisoning test results from both room temperature RDE and high -temperature RDE demonstrate that O-PtCu/S-C possesses excellent phosphate tolerance, superior ORR activity, and remarkable stability. It exhibits a superior peak power density of 800.5 mW cm -2 in 160 degrees C H 2 -O 2 HT-PEMFC with Pt loading of 0.5 mg cm -2 . This research offers a novel approach to designing phosphate -resistant electrocatalysts for HT-PEMFC.

Tin dioxide-based anode materials have attracted extensive attention in lithium-ion batteries due to their high specific capacity. However, the low intrinsic conductivity and volume expansion of commercial SnO2, as well as the aggregation due to snation result in electrodes that are highly susceptible to crush during the cycling process. Here, SnO2@GO@MWNTs complex consisting of rod-like SnO2 with micron-size uniformly embedded in the multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and multilayer graphene oxide (GO) was constructed via a simple ultrasonic mixing method, and was employed as the anode materials of lithium-ion batteries. This composite electrode showed excellent cycling performance, exhibiting a high reversible capacity of 1242.6 mAh center dot g(-1) after 280 cycles (at 200 mA center dot g(-1)), and excellent rate performance at current densities of 1000 mA center dot g(-1) and 2000 mA center dot g(-1), with high specific capacity of 770.5 mAh center dot g(-1) and 640.1 mAh center dot g(-1), respectively. The excellent electrochemical performance was attributed to the fact that the framework structure formed by GO and MWNTs effectively mitigates the volume expansion of rod-shaped SnO2 while improving its electrical conductivity, and the micron-sized rods shape alleviates the aggregation of particles due to the partial tinisation of SnO2.

In this article BF3 etching is applied to fabricate basic SEI (B-SEI) layers enriched with LiF and LixBFy. Artificial solid electrolyte interface (A-SEI) with a "stromatolite" structure is formed on top of the B-SEI growth during the charge-discharge cycles. The structure of A-SEI is characterized laterally and longitudinally by distribution of TEM elements and depth-profile XPS, providing evidence for the elucidation of a new lattice-tuning Li+ "layered" deposition-type SEI structure. At the same time, the SEI is kept from electrolyte erosion fracturing during deposition, resulting in the growth of dendrites along the fracture and significantly enhanced cycling stability under high-rate cycling conditions. In particular, A-SEI endows significantly enhanced cycling capability to the full battery at high cycling rate and high current density. The full cell of A-SEI@Li||LiPF6||LFP exhibits an extended lifetime after 2000 cycles at current densities up to 10 C, and still process a CE above 99.0%.

The chirality-induced spin selectivity (CISS) has been found in the antiferromagnetic and paramagnetic chiral inorganic materials with unpaired electrons, while rarely reported in the spin-paired diamagnetic inorganic materials with spin-pairing energy. Here, we report the CISS in the spin-paired diamagnetic BiOBr endowed with three levels of chiral mesostructures. Chiral mesostructured BiOBr films (CMBFs) were fabricated through a sugar alcohol-induced hydrothermal route. The antipodal CMBFs exhibited chirality-dependent, magnetic field-independent magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) signals, which indicates the existence of spin selectivity. The spin selectivity of CMBFs was speculated to be the result of the competing effect between the externally applied magnetic field and the effective magnetic field arisen from the spin electron motions in chiral potential. The chirality-induced effective magnetic field acts on the magnetic moment of electrons, potentially overcoming the spin-pairing energy and producing opposite energy changes for spin-down and spin-up electrons.

The photomagnetic effect is known to be related only to transition metal atoms with empty orbitals and spin-state changes. In general, noble metals with high electron density cannot be used as photo magnetic materials because of the absence of spin polarization. However, here, we found that photomagnetic-chiral anisotropy (PM-ChA) was generated in chiral nanostructured Au films (CNAFs), and opposite photomagnetic fields (PMFs) were created in the antipodal CNAFs under unpolarized irradiation. The PM-ChA was speculated to arise from directional alignment of opposite spins polarized by the asymmetric spin-orbit coupling due to the opposite effective magnetic fields induced by electron motion in the antipodal helical structure. PM-ChA can be applied in enantiomeric quantification, probably because of the spin polarization coupling between CNAFs and enantiomers. PM-ChA of noble metals generated by directional spin control in helical nanostructures could provide new strategies in quantum technology and theories in magnetophysics.

Chiral molecule-driven asymmetric structures are known to be elusive because of the intriguing chirality transfer from chiral molecules to achiral species. Here, we found that the chiral assembly of BiOBr is independent of the chirality of the organic molecular inducer but dependent on geometric structural matching between the inducer and inorganic species. Diastereoisomeric sugar alcohols (DSAs) with identical numbers of carbon chiral centers and functional groups but with different R/S configurations and optical activities (OAs) were chosen as symmetry-breaking agents for inducing chiral mesostructured BiOBr films (CMBFs) under hydrothermal conditions. Multiple levels of chirality with different handedness were identified in the CMBFs. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations suggest that asymmetric defects in the Br-Bi tetragonal cone caused by physically adsorbed DSAs on the surfaces of the BiOBr crystals are the geometric basis for triggering the chiral twist in the BiOBr monolayer. Our findings provide new insights for understanding the origin of chirality and the chiral transfer mechanism underlying the assembly of achiral species.

Achieving strong and broadband circularly polarized colour responses in chiral inorganic materials is challenging. Here, we fabricated chiral mesostructured bismuth oxybromide (BiOBr) films (CMBFs) via hydrothermal growth using chiral sugar alcohols as symmetry-breaking agents. The layered slabs of BiOBr crystals with weak van-der-Waals interactions are prone to mismatching due to the chiral driving force, resulting in hierarchically chiral arrangements of fine size. Three levels of chirality exist in the CMBFs: primary, helical distortion crystal lattices of a nanoflake, secondary, helical stacking of nanoflakes to form nanoplates, and tertiary, chiral vortexes arranged by nanoplates. The CMBFs displayed optical activities (OAs) over a wide wavelength range of 350-2500 nm with an anisotropic factor of up to 0.99, which led to a significant chirality-dependent colour response to circularly polarized light. The high selectivity can be considered as the result of enhanced resonance due to structural-handedness matching and the synergistic effect of multiple OAs.

Chiral mesostructured TiO2 films (CMTFs) were synthesized by a hydrothermal method using l/d-mannitol as the symmetry-breaking agent and titanium foil as both the substrate and inorganic precursor. Five levels of hierarchical chirality exist in the CMTFs, exhibiting optical activity (OA) at ∼350 nm attributed to the electronic transitions in a dissymmetric electric field.