Solid-state lithium batteries (SSLBs) have attracted much attention due to their high energy density and enhanced safety. However, achieving high ionic conductivity and good interfacial compatibility of solid-state electrolytes has been a challenge in the field. Herein, we developed multifunctional ultrathin composite polymer electrolytes (CPEs) consisting of uniformly dispersed metal-organic frameworks (MOF) in a polymer matrix and LiTFSI filled within the MOF channels. These MOF nanochannels boosted lithium salt dissociation and created continuous channels for rapid Li+ transport, which enabling uniform Li+ flux to ensure good interfacial compatibility. The resulting CPEs exhibited excellent ionic conductivity (∼3 × 10-4 S cm-1 at room temperature), high Li+ transference number (up to 0.9), and wide electrochemical window (4.9 V). Leveraging these advantages, the Li/CPEs/Li symmetric battery demonstrated exceptional cyclability of over 1500 h, and the LiFePO4/CPEs/Li battery showed high rate performance (103 mAh g-1 at 5C) and excellent cycling stability (94.6 % capacity retention after 300 cycles at 1C). Furthermore, an Ah-level pouch battery demonstrates an impressive electrochemical performance (702 mAh after 200 cycles), representing the current state-of-the-art level of MOF-based solid-state batteries. This research provides a simplistic yet effective strategy for developing of MOF-based CPEs, which will greatly facilitate the development of next-generation SSLBs.

Lithium metal batteries (LMBs) have gained significant attention because of their high theoretical energy density. However, under high-rate charge and discharge conditions, lithium metal anodes are susceptible to dendrite formation, compromising battery safety. Creating multifunctional separators offers an effective and cost-efficient solution for addressing fast charging and safety challenges in LMBs. This study proposes a method to prepare a functional separator by in situ growing a polydopamine copper chelate (PDA(Cu)) coating on a polypropylene (PP)/polyethylene (PE)/PP separator (PP/PE/PP@PDA(Cu)). The PDA(Cu) exhibits excellent electrolyte wetting properties and ion exclusion effects, contributing to high ionic conductivity (5.02 × 10-⁴ S cm-1) and high lithium-ion (Li+) transference number (0.776). Owing to its strong adhesion to the lithium metal anode, the coating significantly suppresses the formation of lithium dendrites. The Li||Li symmetric cell with a PP/PE/PP@PDA(Cu) separator demonstrates highly stable lithium plating-stripping cycles, lasting over 900 h. Additionally, the PDA(Cu) promotes the formation of a stable cathode electrolyte interphase (CEI) film on the LiFePO4 cathode surface. The LiFePO4||Li cell with a PP/PE/PP@PDA(Cu) separator maintains 85.1% of its capacity after 6000 cycles at 10 C. This work paves a novel path for designing separators to enhance the fast-charging performance of LMBs and solve the challenges of lithium dendrite formation and long cycling life.

In this work, we construct a robust MOF-based flexible composite membrane based on PVDF-HFP, UIO-66, and ionic liquid (IL). Through their synergistic reinforcement effect, the obtained solid-state electrolytes can simultaneously achieve high ionic conductivity, good mechanical properties, and flame retardance. The abundant pores of the MOF are capable of loading IL, which not only builds continuous ion channels and facilitates the dissociation of Li+ but also balances the mechanical properties and electrochemical performance. Consequently, the as-prepared electrolyte membranes exhibit excellent ionic conductivity (5.55 × 10-4 S cm-1), high Li+ transference number (0.52), moderate electrochemical window (4.3 V), outstanding mechanical properties (tensile strength of 6.63 MPa and elongation of 232%), and good interfacial stability (stable Li plating/stripping behavior). Meanwhile, the assembled LiFePO4//Li battery exhibits an excellent rate capability and long cycle stability. This work demonstrates a realistic strategy for the fabrication of MOF-based composite SSEs toward next generation high-performance lithium metal batteries.

Hydrogen is the cleanest fuel, but the safe storage and transportation of hydrogen is a relatively troublesome task, thus, developing high-performance hydrogen sensors has certain challenges. In this paper, high-performance hydrogen sensing material at near-ambient temperatures was prepared by using platinum and ruthenium co-modified the surface of WO3 nanowires obtained via electrospinning. When the atomic percentages of platinum (Pt) & ruthenium (Ru) to tungsten (W) is 7:4, the response value of sensors to 1 ppm hydrogen at near room temperature (70 degrees C) is 1010, making it suitable for practical application. Particularly, the sensor has a low detection limit of 252 ppt, good repeatability, selectivity and long-term stability. In addition, the electro-catalytic dehydrogenation (HER) performance of the samples was investigated and combined with the Raman study to explore the hydrogen sensing mechanism in this work. This work demonstrated that the modification of double noble metals could significantly improve the hydrogen sensing performance of WO3 nanowires, and it is expected to be extended to the practical application of metal oxide semiconductors based chemiresistive hydrogen sensors, which is of great significance for the large-scale safe use of hydrogen energy in the future.

The notorious shuttle effect and sluggish conversion of polysulfides seriously hinder the practical application of Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries. In this study, a novel architecture of MoS2 /MoO3 heterostructure uniformly distributed on carbon nanotubes (MoS2 /MoO3 @CNT) is designed and introduced into Li-S batteries via decorating commercial separator to regulate the redox reactions of polysulfides. Systematic experiments and theoretical calculations showed that the heterostructure not only provides sufficient surface affinity to capture polysulfides and acts as an active catalyst to promote the conversion of polysulfides, but also the highly conductive CNT enables rapid electron/ion migration. As a result, Li-S batteries with the MoS2 /MoO3 @CNT-PP separator deliver an impressive reversible capacity (1015 mAh g-1 at 0.2 A g-1 after 100 cycles), excellent rate capacity (873 mAh g-1 at 5 A g-1 ), and low self-discharge capacity loss (94.6% capacity retention after 7 days of standing). Moreover, even at an elevated temperature of 70 °C, it still exhibits high-capacity retention (800 mAh g-1 at 1 A g-1 after 100 cycles). Encouragingly, when the sulfur load is increased to 8.7 mg cm-2 , the high reversible areal capacity of 6.61 mAh cm-2 can be stably maintained after 100 cycles, indicating a high potential for practical application.

Windows are important for indoor lighting, cooling, and heating regulation to provide comfortable living for the occupants. However, traditional windows require excessive energy consumption due to uncontrollable light and heat conduction. Herein, to overcome these issues, all-weather smart windows (SWs) with semi-transparent symmetric supercapacitors (SSCs) based on transparent conductive polymer poly(3,4- ethylenedioxythiophene):poly( styrenesulfonic acid) (PEDOT:PSS) are fabricated. The resulting windows show excellent near-infrared (NIR) light modulation and high visible-light transmittance. They display electrochemical performances with long lives of 10,000 cycles, coupled with satisfactory thermal insulation and a wide operating temperature range of -20 degrees C to 40 degrees C. The prepared flexible SWs exhibit robust mechanical properties, suitable for pasting on existing building windows. Energy savings and emission reductions with implementation of the SWs in typical locations under various climate zones in China and around the world are simulated.

Silicon-based materials are expected to be the next generation of anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, the electrode structure will be damaged due to large volume expansion during the lithiation process, resulting in a rapid decay of the battery performance. Nanostructures, porous structures, and carbon coatings have been shown to be effective in reducing the effect of volume expansion. In this work, porous carbon coated silicon (Si/PC) nanoparticles were prepared to suppress the effect of silicon volume expansion while improve the infiltration of electrolyte and the diffusion of lithium ions. The prepared Si/PC nanoparticles were mixed with commercial graphite in different mass ratios as anode materials for LIBs, which can effectively control the specific capacities of the anodes and help the practical applications by reducing the production cost. As the mass ratio of the prepared Si/PC nanoparticles to commercial graphite is 2:1, the first discharge specific capacity is 1586.3 mA h g(-1) with an initial coulombic efficiency of 82.1% at a current density of 200 mA g(-1). After 250 cycles at 1000 mA g(-1), the capacity retention rate is 86.8%. The full cell with LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 as cathode shows an excellent cycle stability with a high stack cell energy density of 882.3 Wh/L. (C) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In the wake of shaping the energy future through materials innovation, lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) are top-of-the-line energy storage system attributed to their high theoretical energy density and specific capacity inclusive of low material costs. Despite their strengths, LSBs suffer from the cross-over of soluble polysulfide redox species to the anode, entailing fast capacity fading and inferior cycling stability. Adding to the concern, the insulating character of polysulfides lends to sluggish reaction kinetics. To address these challenges, we construct optimized polysulfide blockers-cum-conversion catalysts by accommodating the battery separator with covalent organic framework@Graphene (COF@G) composites. We settle on a crystalline TAPP-ETTB COF in the interest of its nitrogen-enriched scaffold with a regular pore geometry, providing ample lithiophilic sites for strong chemisorption and catalytic effect to polysulfides. On another front, graphene enables high electron mobility, boosting the sulfur redox kinetics. Consequently, a lithium-sulfur battery with a TAPP-ETTB COF@G-based separator demonstrates a high reversible capacity of 1489.8 mA h g-1 at 0.2 A g-1 after the first cycle and good cyclic performance (920 mA h g-1 after 400 cycles) together with excellent rate performance (827.7 mA h g-1 at 2 A g-1). The scope and opportunities to harness the designability and synthetic structural control in crystalline organic materials is a promising domain at the interface of sustainable materials, energy storage, and Li-S chemistry.

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries have attracted much attention due to high energy density and low cost. However, some vital issues, especially the notorious shuttle effect of polysulfides has greatly hindered the practical development of Li-S batteries. Reasonable design of electrocatalysts to improve the electrochemical performance of Li-S batteries by enhancing the chemical immobilization and catalytic conversion of polysulfides is considered as a promising solution. Herein, an integrated structure consisting of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) nanosheets modified with Co9S8 nanoparticles is reported, which is expected to be used as a mediator for Li-S batteries to improve the anchoring and catalyzing of polysulfides. The Co9S8 nanoparticles not only have excellent chemisorption capability to capture polysulfides, but also can be used as catalysts to accelerate the conversion of polysulfides. Highly conductive RGO nanosheets can provide appropriate ion/electron diffusion path length, facilitate interfacial reaction kinetics and physically limit polysulfide diffusion. Accordingly, the as-assembled Li-S battery has excellent cycling stability with a low capacity decay rate of 0.041% per cycle over 1000 cycles at 3 A g(-1). Importantly, it enables the device to operate over a wide temperature range, with an area specific capacity of 6.4 mAh cm(-2) at a sulfur load of 5.8 mg cm(-2).

Improving the response of gas sensors has always been a hot research topic. Due to their unique electronic energy level structure, the compositing rare-earth (RE) element materials display unique properties in many fields such as catalysis, luminescence, and energy conversion. Along these lines, combining materials with the RE element of scandium (Sc) is considered a new method to optimize the performance of sensors based on the employment of ZIF-67 derived Co3O4 nanowire arrays. In this work, the Sc element was uniformly distributed on the surface of the Co3O4 nanowires, which were grown by enforcing hydrothermal and chemical bath-based methods. Based on the 30 % Sc composite Co3O4 nanowire array, the sensors show a maximum response of 32-100 ppm ethanol at a lower operating temperature (110 ?). The variation of the response was small range even after 35 days. Interestingly, the extracted response has increased more than three times that of the pure Co3O4 nanowire array devices. In addition, we tested the ethanol concentration range of 10-500 ppm and showed good performance. The gas-sensing properties of the sensors were systematically tested towards volatile organic compounds, including ethanol, acetone, methanol, etc. Based on the 30 % Sc composite Co3O4 nanowire array, the sensors still exhibit excellent selectivity to ethanol. The enhanced sensing performance is attributed to the strong catalytic effect of Sc and the modification of the surface morphology of Co3O4 by Sc. Our work provides an effective and promising method for improving the ethanol sensing performance of the ZIF-67 derived Co3O4 nanowires at low-temperature values. (C) 2022 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Lithium???sulfur (Li???S) batteries have aroused extensive attention owing to the high theoretical capacity and energy density; however, their practical applications are impeded by the insulation of sulfur and lithium sulfides and the shuttle effect of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs). Here, zinc???nitrogen codoped carbon (ZnNC) nanofibers with pea-shaped voids were fabricated as an interlayer of Li???S batteries. It was found that the ZnNC nanofibers can anchor LiPSs and catalyze their redox conversion effectively. The cross-linked ZnNC nanofiber interlayer acting as an upper current collector can enhance the electron transfer and accelerate the lithium ion diffusion. The combined effects of the addition of the ZnNC nanofiber interlayer endow the Li???S batteries with high capacity, high -rate performance, and long cycle stability. The initial capacity is 1198.5 mAh g???1 at 0.5 C for the cell with a sulfur loading of about 1.0 mg cm???2. After 500 cycles at 1 C, a capacity of 694.1 mAh g???1 is retained with a low capacity fading of 0.073% per cycle. When the sulfur loading is 6.19 mg cm???2, the capacity reaches 754.8 mAh g???1 after 100 cycles at 0.2 C.

As a promising alternative for next-generation energy storge devices, lithium-sulfur batteries suffer from polysulfide shuttle and the inherent slow kinetics under long- term operating and high mass loading which mainly cause by the absence of available immobilizer and conversion mediators. Herein, La2O3 nanoparticles anchored on graphene composite is designed and demonstrates a high-performance sulfur immobilizer and conversion promoter. Benefiting from the composite, the corresponding Li-S batteries display good cycling stability (capacity fading rate 0.051 % per cycle after 500 cycles), high initial specific capacity (1423.7 mA h g(-1) at 0.2 A g(-1)), and excellent cycling performance at high sulfur loading (5.03 mg cm(-2)). The results of experiments and density functional theoretical (DFT) calculations revealed that the La2O3 nanoparticles is a desirable separator modification material that can effectively tuning the absorption and conversion interactions with polysulfides through S-La and Li-O chemical bonds.

The commercialization of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries is hindered by the poor electrochemical performance which mainly originates from the shuttle of polysulfides and the loss of active sulfur. In this work, a multi-functional separator modified by CeO2 decorated graphene (CeO2@G) is designed to enhance the performance of Li-S batteries. The CeO2 nanoparticles not only immobilize polysulfides by strong chemisorption, but also act as catalytic agent to accelerate polysulfides redox reaction. Moreover, the highly conductive graphene sheets functioned as an upper current collector to improve the electron/ion conductivity and facilitate the reutilization of sulfur species. As a result, the Li-S battery with the CeO2@G modified separator delivers high specific capacity (1546 mAh g-1 at 0.2 A g-1), excellent rate performance (861 mAh g-1 at 3 A g-1), and long-term cycle durability (480 mAh g-1 at 5 A g-1 after 1000 cycles). In addition, the modified separator can effectively against the self-discharge behavior. The outstanding electrochemical performance brings us a closer step towards practical applications of Li-S batteries.

Compared with conventional transparent conductive indium tin oxide (ITO) films, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly (styrenesulfonic acid) (PEDOT:PSS) as a conductive polymer material has been diffusely applied in organic optoelectronic devices. However, its optoelectrical properties need to be further improved. Therefore, a simple and universal approach with introducing ITO nanoparticles (NPs) was proposed to improve the optoelectrical properties of PEDOT:PSS thin films. The results show that the vertical conductivity (σDC⊥) and average transmittance (from 300 to 1200 nm) of PEDOT:PSS films were enhanced about 26.8 and 6.3%, respectively. Crystalline silicon (c-Si)/organic heterojunction solar cells (HSCs) with PEDOT:PSS/ITO NP hybrid films were fabricated and performances led to further improvement. The spatial distributions of relative electrical field intensity and the carrier generation rate of the HSCs under the standard AM 1.5 G condition were simulated, which were in good agreement with the experimental conclusions.

Decorating Ru does not effect the morphology of NWs, increased the oxygen vacancies, adsorbed oxygen. This strategy results in a better sensing performance (∼120 to 100 ppm ethanol was increased around 47 times at 200 °C) and humidity resistance.

To improve the electrochemical performance of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries, we develop a new strategy to construct the V2O5 yolk-shell microspheres/graphene nanosheets (V2O5/G) layer on commercial poly-propylene (PP) separator as a vice-electrode. On one hand, the V2O5/G interlayer can act as a barrier to block polysulfides diffusion and then suppress the troublesome shuttle effect. On the other hand, lithium ions can insert in and extract from V2O5 during discharge/charge processes, and thus contribute extra cathode capacity and large voltage window to the batteries. As expected, the Li-S batteries with a V2O5/G interlayer deliver a large voltage window of 2.0 V (3.6-1.6 V) and a significantly improved electrochemical performance. The work provides a new idea for the design of the high-performance Li-S battery. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The shuttle effect of polysulfides in lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) leads to unsatisfactory electrochemical performance. Herein, hierarchical hollow carbon microtubes (CMTs) are simply prepared by carbonization of willow catkins and coated on a commercialized separator for high-performance LSBs. The CMTs-coated separator can inhibit the diffusion of polysulfides through physical and chemical adsorption, which alleviates the shuttle effect effectively. In addition, the CMTs interlayer acts as an upper current collector to provide continuous highways for electron and ion transport to enhance the utilization of active materials. As a result, the cells with a CMTs-coated separator exhibit a high discharge specific capacity of 800 mAh g(-1) after 100 cycles at 0.2 A g(-1), which is higher than the capacity (554 mAh g(-1)) of the cell with the pristine separator. This work not only provides a green process to produce sustainable and low-cost hollow CMTs but also designs high-performance LSBs based on the obtained CMTs.

In this study, a simple and novel mechanical pressure treatment (MPT) was used to effectively improve the electrical and optical properties of ethylene glycol (EG)-doped PEDOT:PSS (EG-PEDOT:PSS) thin films, one of the most successful organic conductor materials ever which is are widely used in organic electronics because of their admirable film-forming property, high light transmittance, and excellent thermal stability. It is found that the conductivity of the EG-PEDOT:PSS films increased by 32% due to dramatically enhanced carrier mobility because an MPT improves the phase separation between PEDOT and PSS and then yields an interpenetrating conductive network. Meanwhile, the transmittance of the EG-PEDOT:PSS films in the near-infrared band was enhanced, and the surface roughness was reduced. These thin films retain their incredible flexibility as well; after 5000 times of 180° bending, the sheet resistance is basically unchanged. Considering that this MPT approach is already well developed in industrial applications, it is very hopeful to extend this technique in the field of organic electronics.

A modified separator by a composite of Fe3O4 nanoparticles and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) sheets is designed as an efficient polysulfides barrier and an upper current collector to suppress shuttle effect and improve utilization of the active material for lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs). The RGO sheets can block lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) and transport electrons. The polar Fe3O4 nanoparticles significantly inhibit the dissolution of LiPSs to the electrolyte through strong chemical interactions. As a result, LSBs with such a separator exhibit high discharge capacities and excellent cycling stability.