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The key means to improve the performance of lithium–sulfur batteries (LSBs) is to reduce the internal resistance by building an electronic/ionic pathway and to accelerate the conversion kinetics of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) through modulation of interface functions. Herein, inspired by a grass root system, a flexible hierarchical CNF‐CNT (carbon nanofiber‐carbon nanotube) membrane decorated with Co‐doped NiS2 nanoparticles (Co‐NiS2@CNF‐CNT) is designed as an interlayer for LSBs, in which the in situ grown CNTs (root hairs) are wound on CNF (roots). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that Co doping introduces electron‐deficient regions at the doping sites in NiS2, thus improving chemical adsorption and catalytic activities toward LiPSs. The cell pairs with the Co‐NiS2@CNF‐CNT interlayer exhibit a high rate performance of 951.4 mAh g−1 at 3 C, a reversible capacity of 944.1 mAh g−1 after 500 cycles at 0.2 C, and a prolonged cycle life of 3000 cycles at 5 C. More importantly, an areal capacity of 7.96 mAh cm−2 is achieved with a sulfur loading of 9.6 mg cm−2. This work provides a strategy for enhancing the electrochemical performance of LSBs by combining 3D hierarchical conductive skeletons and electron‐deficient functional adsorption and catalysis materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of BiOBr nanosheets with tunable exposing proportion of (0 1 0) facets had been synthesized. In the synthesis process, different n -alcohols are used, which not only promote the exposure of (0 1 0) facets, but also modulate the size and thickness of these BiOBr nanosheets in a wide range. Furthermore, these nanosheets showed an efficient photodegradation activity for salicylic acid (SA) and Rhodamine B (RhB). By comparison, the sample prepared in n -hexanol possessed the highest photocatalytic activity than those synthesized in n -butanol and methanol, respectively. This excellent photocatalytic activity was attributed to the thin lamellar thickness and the exposure of (0 1 0) facets, which facilitated the separation of photoinduced electrons and holes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Halide anion-doped bismuth terephthalate hybrids were synthesized using a facile solvothermal method. Four series of hybrids doped with halide anions X− (F−, Cl−, Br− and I−) were produced by varying the molar ratios ( n) of X− relative to Bi(NO3)3 ( n = 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1) in dimethylformamide solution. The results indicated that 0.25 equiv. of different halide anion-doped bismuth terephthalate hybrids, especially BiBDC-Cl(0.25) and BiBDC-Br(0.25), exhibited excellent photocatalytic activity under visible light and UV light irradiation. They also exhibited excellent adsorption performance for Rhodamine B which could be attributed to high surface areas and negative charge on the surface of the catalysts. Moreover, the degradation of Rhodamine B under visible light irradiation is a photosensitization process and •O2− is the most important active species. The halide anion-doped bismuth terephthalate hybrids are promising photocatalysts for removal of organic pollutants. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]