In Situ FTIR-Assisted Synthesis of Nickel Hexacyanoferrate Cathodes for Long-Life Sodium-Ion Batteries

Self-synergy-powered Ni/Fe nanocube-based cholesterol detection with dual modes

Nanoenzyme-leveraged multimode detection would benefit enhancing sensitivity and mitigating detection error. Moreover, multienzyme-like nanozymes hold tremendous potential in sensing by offering synergistic effects and cascaded catalysis. Herein, cost-effective multienzymic Ni/Fe nanocubes (Ni/FeNCs) were synthesized via a facile co-precipitation, and verified to catalyze H2O2 decomposition as peroxidase (POD) and catalase (CAT) mimics. Thereby, a dual-mode sensing platform based on Ni/FeNC and cholesterol oxidase (ChOx) was developed for cholesterol detection. Utilizing the H2O2 produced via the oxidation of cholesterol catalyzed by ChOx, OH•/O2•- radicals and O2 were formed efficiently via Ni/FeNCs-based H2O2 decomposition, facilitating the generation of chemiluminescence (CL) and fluorescence signals. For CL assay, an Ni/FeNC-luminol-H2O2 CL system was fabricated, where both POD-mimic-mediated radical decomposition of H2O2 and ferricyanide ions in Ni/FeNCs could induce CL reaction with respective mechanism. Notably, these two CL processes were both deduced to be enhanced by in-situ generated O2. This dual-catalyzed luminol CL system, involving self-cascade catalysis of ferricyanogen and CAT mimic as well as the self-synergy between POD-like and CAT-like activities of Ni/FeNCs, was proposed for the first time, and able to boost CL signal. To generate fluorescent signal, o-phenylenediamine was introduced, and oxidized by both OH•/O2•- and O2 produced via POD/CAT-mimic-mediated H2O2 decomposition to 2,3-diaminophenazinc, which could quench the fluorescence of WS2 quantum dots via internal filtration effect. The Ni/FeNC-based dual-mode assay is applicable and flexible for cholesterol detection. Particularly, the low-cost Ni/FeNC is a promising candidate of luminol-H2O2 CL system due to its dual-CL-mechanism involving self-cascade and synergistic catalysis.

Ligand Field-Induced Dual Active Sites Enhance Redox Potential of Nickel Hexacyanoferrate for Ammonium Ion Storage

Enhancing the redox potential of cathode materials is vital for increasing the energy density of aqueous ammonium ion batteries (AIBs). Prussian blue analogues (PBAs), with their inherently high redox potentials and open frameworks, are promising candidates. However, further boosting their redox potential and understanding their NH4 + ion storage mechanisms remain critical challenges. In this work, a novel ligand field-induced dual active sites mechanism is introduced by incorporating Ni into the PBA framework, activating Ni as an additional redox center for NH4 + ion storage. The electron transfer from Ni to Fe within the Ni─N≡C─Fe chain enhances the redox potential and electrochemical performance of nickel hexacyanoferrate (NiHCF). For the first time, the electrochemical activity of Ni is demonstrated in NiHCF during NH4 + ions intercalation and de-intercalation. NiHCF exhibits elevated redox potentials, superior rate performance, and robust cycling stability compared to iron hexacyanoferrate (FeHCF). Advanced characterization techniques and density functional theory calculations confirm the activation of Ni and the enhanced interaction between NH4 + ions and the framework. These findings provide new insights into the NH4 + ion storage mechanism of PBAs and offer a promising strategy for designing high-energy-density cathode materials for AIBs.

In Situ Balanced Synthesis of High-Activity Low-Spin Iron Cathode Prussian Blue for Enhanced Sodium-Ion Storage

The growing market for sodium-ion batteries has stimulated interest in research on Prussian blue-type cathode materials. Iron hexacyanoferrate (FeHCF) is considered a desirable Prussian blue-type cathode, but the incomplete electrochemical property of its low-spin iron sites hinders its further practical application. In this paper, carboxymethyl cellulose is demonstrated to have an appropriate binding energy through DFT calculations, synthesize Prussian blue in situ, balance Fe3+ and water in FeHCF, and introduce FeIII vacancies to activate low-spin Fe sites. Thus, at a 1 C rate, it achieves an initial discharge capacity of 154.7 mAh g-1 with an energy density of 470.8 Wh kg-1. The capacity retention is 70.2% after 4000 cycles at a rate of 100 C. This work provides a simpler way to develop more cost-effective, faster, and more durable cathode materials for sodium-ion energy storage.

A Self-Constructed Mg2+/K+ Co-Doped Prussian Blue with Superior Cycling Stability Enabled by Enhanced Coulombic Attraction

Prussian blue (PB) is regarded as a promising cathode for sodium-ion batteries because of its sustainable precursor elements (e.g., Mn, Fe), easy preparation, and unique framework structure. However, the unstable structure and inherent crystal H2O restrain its practical application. For this purpose, a self-constructed trace Mg2+/K+ co-doped PB prepared via a sea-water-mediated method is proposed to address this problem. The Mg2+/K+ co-doping in the Na sites of PB is permitted by both thermodynamics and kinetics factors when synthesized in sea water. The results reveal that the introduced Mg2+ and K+ are immovable in the PB lattices and can form stronger K‒N and Mg‒N Coulombic attraction to relieve phase transition and element dissolution. Besides, the Mg2+/K+ co-doping can reduce defect and H2O contents. As a result, the PB prepared in sea water exhibits an extremely long cycle life (80.1% retention after 2400 cycles) and superior rate capability (90.4% capacity retention at 20 C relative to that at 0.1 C). To address its practical applications, a sodium salts recycling strategy is proposed to greatly reduce the PB production cost. This work provides a self-constructed Mg2+/K+ co-doped high-performance PB at a low preparation cost for sustainable, large-scale energy storage.

High Capacity and Fast Kinetics Enabled by Metal-Doping in Prussian Blue Analogue Cathodes for Sodium-Ion Batteries

Prussian blue analogues (PBAs) have gained tremendous attention as promising low-cost electrochemically-tunable electrode materials, which can accommodate large Na+ ions with attractive specific capacity and charge-discharge kinetics. However, poor cycling stability caused by lattice strain and volume change remains to be improved. Herein, metal-doping strategy has been demonstrated in FeNiHCF, Na1.40Fe0.90Ni0.10[Fe(CN)6]0.85 ⋅ 1.3H2O, delivering a capacity as high as 148 mAh g-1 at 10 mA g-1. At an exceptionally high rate of 25.6 A g-1, a reversible capacity of ~55 mAh g-1 still can be obtained with a very small capacity decay rate of 0.02 % per cycle for 1000 cycles, considered one of the best among all metal-doped PBAs. This exhibits the stabilizing effect of Ni doping which enhances structural stability and long-term cyclability. In situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction reveals an extremely small (~1 %) change in unit cell parameters. The Ni substitution is found to increase the electronic conductivity and redox activity, especially at the low-spin (LS) Fe center due to inductive effect. This larger capacity contribution from LS Fe2+C6/Fe3+C6 redox couple is responsible for stable high-rate capability of FeNiHCF. The insight gained in this work may pave the way for the design of other high-performance electrode materials for sustainable sodium-ion batteries.

Self-Powered Flexible Multicolor Electrochromic Devices for Information Displays

The development of self-powered flexible multicolor electrochromic (EC) systems that could switch different color without an external power supply has remained extremely challenging. Here, a new trilayer film structure for achieving self-powered flexible multicolor EC displays based on self-charging/discharging mechanism is proposed, which is simply assembled by sandwiching an ionic gel film between 2 cathodic nickel hexacyanoferrate (NiHCF) and Prussian blue (PB) nanoparticle films on indium tin oxide substrates. The display exhibits independent self-powered color switching of NiHCF and PB films with fast responsive time and high reversibility by selectively connecting the Al wire as anodes with the 2 EC films. Multicolor switching is thus achieved through a color overlay effect by superimposing the 2 EC films, including green, blue, yellow, and colorless. The bleaching/coloration process of the displays is driven by the discharging/self-charging mechanism for NiHCF and PB films, respectively, ensuring the self-powered color switching of the displays reversibly without an external power supply. It is further demonstrated that patterns can be easily created in the self-powered EC displays by the spray-coating method, allowing multicolor changing to convey specific information. Moreover, a self-powered ionic writing board is demonstrated based on the self-powered EC displays that can be repeatedly written freehand without the need of an external power source. We believe that the design concept may provide new insights into the development of self-powered flexible multicolor EC displays with self-recovered energy for widespread applications.

Defect-Healing Induced Monoclinic Iron-Based Prussian Blue Analogs as High-Performance Cathode Materials for Sodium-Ion Batteries

Prussian blue analogs (PBAs) have attracted wide interest as a class of ideal cathodes for rechargeable sodium-ion batteries due to their low cost, high theoretical capacity, and facile synthesis. Herein, a series of highly crystalline Fe-based PBAs (FeHCF) cubes, where HCF stands for the hexacyanoferrate, is synthesized via a one-step pyrophosphate-assisted co-precipitation method. By applying this proposed facile crystallization-controlled method to slow down the crystallization process and suppress the defect content of the crystal framework of the PBAs, the as-prepared materials demonstrate high crystallization and a sodium-rich induced rhombohedral phase. As a result, the as prepared FeHCF can deliver a high specific capacity of up to 152.0 mA h g-1 (achieving ≈90% of its theoretical value) and an excellent rate capability with a high-capacity retention ratio of 88% at 10 C, which makes it one of the most competitive candidates among the cathodes reported regarding both capacity and rate performance. A highly reversible three-phase-transition sodium-ion storage mechanism has been revealed via multiple in situ techniques. Furthermore, the full cells fabricated with as-prepared cathode and commercial hard carbon anode exhibit excellent compatibility which shows great prospects for application in the large-scale energy storage systems.

Iron Nanoparticles Wrapped with an N-Doped Carbon Material Produced by Using a Zinc Hydroxide Ferrocyanide Nanohybrid for Use in Commercial-like Supercapacitors

According to the technology of carbon-based supercapacitors, modifying the structure of carbon as an active electrode material leads to an increase in capacitance. A modification involves introducing heteroatoms such as nitrogen into the carbon structure and composing it with metals such as iron. In this research, an anionic source called ferrocyanide was used to produce N-doped carbon consisting of iron nanoparticles. In fact, ferrocyanide was located as a guest between the layers of a host material, which is zinc hydroxide in the α phase. This new nanohybrid material was then heat-treated under Ar, and the heated product after acid washing was iron nanoparticles wrapped with N-doped carbon materials. This material was used as an active material in the production of symmetric supercapacitors with different organic (TEABF₄ in acetonitrile) and aqueous (sodium sulfate) electrolytes as well as a new electrolyte (KCN in methanol). Accordingly, the supercapacitor made by the N/Fe-carbon active material and the organic electrolyte showed a capacitance value of 21 F/g at a current density of 0.1 A/g. This value is comparable to and even higher than the values observed in commercial supercapacitors.

Fluffy-Like Cation-Exchanged Prussian Blue Analogues for Sodium-Ion Battery Cathodes

Prussian blue (PB) and its analogues are considered as promising cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) owing to their low cost and high capacity. However, it is still a huge challenge to avoid obvious capacity decay during cycling due to the structural collapse. Herein, we design a method to replace parts of Fe ion sites in PB with Ni ions to prepare fluffy-like nickel PB (PB-Ni) by cationic solution immersion, which improves cycling stability for sodium storage. The content of Ni in PB-Ni is explored by regulating the soaking time in the Ni-containing solution, which results in different effects on the electrochemical performance as cathodes of SIBs. Especially, PB-Ni-1d (soaking in NiCl₂ solution for 1 day) exhibits an initial capacity of 114.2 mA h g^-1 at 50 mA g^-1 and a stable cycling performance of 800 cycles at 300 mA g^-1. Furthermore, the reversible phase transformation and small volume variation for PB-Ni-1d are revealed by in situ X-ray diffraction characterization. The nickel hexacyanoferrate in outer layer maintains the cubic phase to stabilize the crystal structure. The cation-exchange strategy provides a facile idea to fabricate high-quality PB cathodes with superior stability for high-performance SIBs.

Self-Template Synthesis of Prussian Blue Analogue Hollow Polyhedrons as Superior Sodium Storage Cathodes

Prussian blue and its analogues with three-dimensional frame structures have been shown to be of great importance in the research and development of sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). Herein, we develop a simple and convenient self-template method to prepare a hollow-structured Prussian blue analogue (CoFe-PBA). This structure is conducive to buffer the volume changes during ion extraction and insertion processes and shorten the ion diffusion path. When further building a thin polydopamine (PDA) coating, the synthesized CoFe-PBA@PDA exhibits a high discharge capacity of 123.1 mAh g^-1 at 0.1 A g^-1 with a capacity retention of 71.5% after 500 cycles. Moreover, the capacity retention of CoFe-PBA@PDA after 100 cycles is 14.3% higher than that of the two comparison samples. In addition, the reversible structure of CoFe-PBA@PDA without forming a new phase was verified by in situ X-ray diffraction. This work may provide another design idea or strategy for improving the stability of the PBA cathodes used in SIBs.

Low-defect K2Mn[Fe(CN)6]-reduced graphene oxide composite for high-performance potassium-ion batteries

Here, a low-defect K₂Mn[Fe(CN)₆]-reduced graphene oxide (KMF-RGO) composite is fabricated, which demonstrates excellent cycling stability, fast rate capability, and exceptional air stability as a cathode material for potassium-ion batteries (KIBs). This work provides a practical strategy for the synthesis of high-performance K₂Mn[Fe(CN)₆] cathode materials for KIBs.

Enzyme-free detection of hydrogen peroxide with a hybrid transducing system based on sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) and prussian blue nanoparticles

Herein, we report a two-layered hybrid catalytic interface composed of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), poly (3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene) (PEDOT), Prussian blue (PB) nanoparticles and Nickel-Hexacyanoferrate (Ni-HCF) layer for the enzyme-free detection of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). Whereas the first layer, CMC:PEDOT:PB, is responsible for generating amperometric signals toward H₂O₂, Ni-HCF on CMC:PEDOT:PB layer is playing an active role as an operational stability-enhancer. In the study, where the systematic optimization of the sensor electrode is presented using cyclic voltammetry (CV), amperometry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique, the physical and chemical properties of the hybrid composite systems constructed is also supported by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques. The amperometric signal generation of the H₂O₂ sensor was linear between 1 and 100 μM (R² = 0.999) with a sensitivity of 416.11 μA mM^-1cm^-2, providing a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.33 μM. The sensing system, which was not affected by the various interfering molecules, creates a successful sensor platform for H₂O₂ measurements in tap water with a high recovery value between 94.0% and 110.5% and relatively small RSD in the range of 0.4-5.2%.

One-step coating of commercial Ni nanoparticles with a Ni, N-co-doped carbon shell towards efficient electrocatalysts for CO2 reduction

Commercial nickel nanoparticles (Ni NPs) were directly converted to efficient electrocatalysts for CO₂ reduction by urea-Ni solid powder pyrolysis, in which a Ni, N-co-doped graphite carbon shell wraps the Ni NPs in situ. 98.3% CO selectivity was realized with a current density of -20.2 mA cm^-2 and an overpotential of 0.69 V.