LDH-derived Co0.5Ni0.5Te2 dispersed in 3D carbon sheets as a separator modifier to enable kinetics-accelerated lithium-sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur batteries are considered powerful candidates for the next generation of advanced energy-storage systems owing to their high energy density and theoretical specific capacity. However, their practical commercial feasibility has been hampered by their sluggish kinetics and severe shuttle effect. Hence, a novel hybrid comprising NiCo-LDH-derived Co0.5Ni0.5Te2 nanoparticles grafted on 3D carbon sheets was rationally constructed through facile steps and served as a functional separator modifier for a lithium-sulfur battery. It was found that the 3D cross-linked conductive network structure of the hybrid is conductive to continuous electron transfer. In addition, well-dispersed Co0.5Ni0.5Te2 nanoparticles with hexahedral morphology offer an ample sulfophilic surface to chemically anchor and catalyze the redox dynamics of sulfur species. It was proven that the dynamic conversion of sulfur-involved reactions was effectively promoted and the utilization of polysulfides was boosted. The related cells demonstrated attractive long-cycling durability (784.8 mA h g-1 at 2 C after 500 cycles) and an excellent rate performance (699.5 mA h g-1 even at 7 C). Furthermore, when sulfur loading reached 6.89 mg cm-2, areal capacity could still be maintained at 6.40 mA h cm-2 after 50 cycles at 0.2 C. This work provides a promising strategy to design a multifunctional separator modifier and promotes the exploration of metal tellurides to engineer advanced kinetics-accelerated lithium-sulfur batteries.

Cobalt-vanadium sulfide yolk-shell nanocages from surface etching and ion-exchange of ZIF-67 for ultra-high rate-capability sodium ion battery

Development of high-performance metal sulfides anode materials is a great challenge for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). In this work, a cobalt-based imidazolate framework (ZIF-67) were firstly synthesized and applied as precursor. After the successive surface etching, ion exchange and sulfidation processes, the final cobalt-vanadium sulfide yolk-shell nanocages were obtained (CoS2/VS4@NC) with VS4 shell and CoS2 yolk encapsulated into nitrogen doped carbon frameworks. This yolk-shell nanocage structure effectively increases the specific surface area and provides enough space for inhibiting the volume change during charge/discharge processes. Besides, the nitrogen doped carbon skeleton greatly improves the ionic conductivity and facilitates ion transport. When used as the anode materials for SIBs, the yolk-shell nanocages of CoS2/VS4@NC electrode exhibits excellent rate capability and stable cycle performance. Notably, it displays a long-term cycling stability with excellent capacity of 417.28 mA h g-1 after 700 cycles at a high current density of 5 A/g. This developed approach here provides a new route for the design and synthesis of various yolk-shell nanocages nanomaterials from enormous MOFs with multitudinous compositions and morphologies and can be extended to the application into other secondary batteries and energy storage fields.

Metal-Organic Framework-Based Materials for Advanced Sodium Storage: Development and Anticipation

As a pioneering battery technology, even though sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are safe, non-flammable, and capable of exhibiting better temperature endurance performance than lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), because of lower energy density and larger ionic size, they are not amicable for large-scale applications. Generally, the electrochemical storage performance of a secondary battery can be improved by monitoring the composition and morphology of electrode materials. Because more is the intricacy of a nanostructured composite electrode material, more electrochemical storage applications would be expected. Despite the conventional methods suitable for practical production, the synthesis of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) would offer enormous opportunities for next-generation battery applications by delicately systematizing the structure and composition at the molecular level to store sodium ions with larger sizes compared with lithium ions. Here, the review comprehensively discusses the progress of nanostructured MOFs and their derivatives applied as negative and positive electrode materials for effective sodium storage in SIBs. The commercialization goal has prompted the development of MOFs and their derivatives as electrode materials, before which the synthesis and mechanism for MOF-based SIB electrodes with improved sodium storage performance are systematically discussed. Finally, the existing challenges, possible perspectives, and future opportunities will be anticipated.

Zeolite Imidazolate Frameworks (ZIFs) Derived Nanomaterials and their Hybrids for Advanced Secondary Batteries and Electrocatalysis

Zeolite imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs), as a typical class of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), have attracted a great deal of attention in the field of energy storage and conversation due to their chemical structure stability, facile synthesis and environmental friendliness. Among of ZIFs family, the zinc-based imidazolate framework (ZIF-8) and cobalt-based imidazolate framework (ZIF-67) have considered as promising ZIFs materials, which attributed to their tunable porosity, stable structure, and desirable electrical conductivity. To date, various ZIF-8 and ZIF67 derived materials, including carbon materials, metal oxides, sulfides, selenides, carbides and phosphides, have been successfully synthesized using ZIFs as templates and evaluated as promising electrode materials for secondary batteries and electrocatalysis. This review provides an effective guide for the comprehension of the performance optimization and application prospects of ZIFs derivatives, specifically focusing on the optimization of structure and their application in secondary batteries and electrocatalysis. In detail, we present recent advances in the improvement of electrochemical performance of ZIF-8, ZIF-67 and ZIF-8@ZIF-67 derived nanomaterials and their hybrids, including carbon materials, metal oxides, carbides, oxides, sulfides, selenides, and phosphides for high-performance secondary batteries and electrocatalysis.

MOFs-Derived Flower-Like Hierarchically Porous Zn-Mn-Se/C Composite for Extraordinary Rate Performance and Durable Anode of Sodium-Ion and Potassium-Ion Batteries

The slow kinetics and poor structural stability prevent transition metal selenides from being widely used in sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) and potassium-ion batteries (PIBs). Herein, the "flower-like" porous carbon anchored by Zn-Mn binary selenides (ZMS@FC) composites are fabricated by selenizing the modified hierarchically metal-organic frameworks. The 2D conductive hierarchically flakes' abundant pore structure and multiple active sites shorten the ion diffusion length and promote conductivity, while the synergistic effect of the binary metals and intrinsic large pseudocapacitive contribution effectively improve capacity and rate performance. ZMS@FC composites exhibit impressive rate capability of 294.4 mA h g^-1 at 10 A g^-1 and excellent cyclic stability with 369.6 mA h g^-1 specific capacity retention at 2 A g^-1 after 1000 cycling in SIBs. It is noted that 156.9 mA h g^-1 can be retained at 5 A g^-1 and 227.0 mA h g^-1 is remained after 500 cycles at 2 A g^-1 in PIBs. The ex situ X-ray diffraction patterns and transmission electron microscopy pictures are used to confirm the conversion reaction processes of the Zn-Mn-Se. Designing high-performance energy storage materials may benefit greatly from the universal synthesis technology of bimetallic sulfide anodes for enhanced SIBs and PIBs.

Design of Three-Dimensional Metallic Biphenylene Networks for Na-Ion Battery Anodes with a Record High Capacity

Na-ion batteries (NIBs) capture intensive research interest in large-scale energy storage applications because of sodium's abundant resources and low cost. However, the low capacity, poor conductivity, and short cycle life of the commonly used anodes are the main challenges in developing advanced NIBs. Here, stimulated by the recent successful synthesis of biphenylene [Science 2021, 372, 852], we show that these problems can be curbed by assembling armchair biphenylene nanoribbons of different widths into three-dimensional architectures, which lead to homogeneously distributed nanopores with robust structural and mechanical stability. Through density functional theory and molecular dynamics calculations combined with the tight-binding model, we find that the assembled 3D biphenylene structures are metallic and thermally stable up to 2500 K, where the metallicity is further identified to originate from the p_z-orbitals (π-bonds) of the sp² carbon atoms. Especially, the optimal assembled structures HexC28 (HexC46) deliver a gravimetric capacity of 956 (1165) mA h g^-1 and a volumetric capacity of 1109 (874) mA h mL^-1, which are much higher than those of graphite and hard carbon anodes. Moreover, they also show a suitable average potential, negligible volume change, and low diffusion energy barrier. These findings demonstrate that assembling biphenylene nanoribbons is a promising strategy for designing next-generation NIB anodes.

Advanced Lithium Primary Batteries: Key Materials, Research Progresses and Challenges

In recent years, with the vigorous development and gradual deployment of new energy vehicles, more attention has been paid to the research on lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Compared with the booming LIBs, lithium primary batteries (LPBs) own superiority in specific energy and self-discharge rate and are usually applied in special fields such as medical implantation, aerospace, and military. Widespread application in special fields also means more stringent requirements for LPBs in terms of energy density, working temperature range and shelf life. Therefore, how to obtain LPBs with high energy density, wide operational temperature range and long storage life is of great importance in future development. In view of the above, this paper reviews the latest research on LPBs in cathode, anode and electrolyte over the years, and puts forward relevant insights for LPBs, along with the intention to explore avenues for the design of LPBs components in the coming decades and promote further development in this field.

Co-intercalation strategy of constructing partial cation substitution of ammonium vanadate {(NH4)2V6O16} for stable zinc ion storage

Recently, aqueous zinc-ion batteries have become a hot research topic in the field of grid-scale application, which can be attributed to their low-cost, aqueous electrolyte and dominant theoretical reversible capacity. Nevertheless, the lack of suitable cathode materials greatly hinders the development of aqueous zinc-ion batteries. In this work, we adopt a simple one-step synthesis strategy to prepare (NH₄)₂V₆O₁₆ with an intercalation of Na⁺ and H₂O, which exhibits a novel crystal structure in which the ammonium ion, crystal water, and sodium ion co-locate in the V₃O₈ layers. The co-intercalation not only effectively enhances the binding energy between V-O layers to suppress vanadium dissolution but also successfully improves the structural stability to alleviate the structural collapse during the cyclic process. As result, (NH₄)₂V₆O₁₆ with the intercalation of crystal water and Na⁺ presents a remarkable reversible discharge capacity of 423.9 mA h g^-1 after 90 cycles at 0.1 A g^-1 with an excellent energy density of 350.3 W h kg^-1 and demonstrates an outstanding specific capacity of 182.5 mA h g^-1 at the high current density of 5 A g^-1 upon 1400 cycles during the ultra-wide voltage window of 0.1-2.0 V.

Novel Fe2.55Sb2 alloy nanoparticles incorporated in N-doped carbon as a bifunctional oxygen electrocatalyst for rechargeable Zn–air batteries

Novel Fe2.55Sb2 alloy nanoparticles are incorporated in N-doped carbon as bifunctional oxygen electrocatalyst for rechargeable Zn-air battery.

Co-substitution in a Prussian blue analog with a hollow heterostructure for ultrahigh capacity and rate capability aqueous Zn2+ batteries

Nickel and manganese co-substitution in a hollow Prussian blue nanocubes has been successfully carried out via utilizing a high-concentration polymer template, with an ultrahigh capacity of 138.4 mA h g−1 at 0.05 A g−1 in an aqueous zinc-ion battery.

Ni3Se4@CoSe2 hetero-nanocrystals encapsulated into CNT-porous carbon interpenetrating frameworks for high-performance sodium ion battery

Core-shell structured Ni-ZIF-67@ZIF-8 derived bimetal selenides encapsulating into a 3D interpenetrating dual-carbon framework (Ni₃Se₄@CoSe₂@C/CNTs) have been designed and prepared via carbonization and subsequent selenization processes. In this hierarchical structure, Ni₃Se₄@CoSe₂ nanocrystals were uniformly dispersed into the 3D carbon frameworkstructure/carbon nanotubes networks, which greatly enhanced the electronic conductivity and further enabled ultrafast Na-ion diffusion kinetics. When used as anode materials of sodium ion battery (SIB), The Ni₃Se₄@CoSe₂@C/CNTs electrode delivered the excellent rate capability of 206 mA h g^-1 at 3 A g^-1 and marvelous cyclic stability with capacity retention of 243 mA h g^-1 after 600 cycles at 1 A g^-1. This research provides a new way to prepare bimetallic selenide derived from MOF precursor with amazing heterostructure as the advanced anode materials for SIBs.