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Ternary metal sulfides having layered morphology are considered as potential active materials for various applications. Herein, Nb3VS6 is synthesized topochemically for the first time using a Nb–V–HDA complex having a lamellar structure by employing H2S gas as the sulfidation agent. Nb3VS6, as an anode for SIBs, exhibited a specific capacity of 101.15 mA h g−1 at 0.5 A g−1, along with excellent cycling stability with 100% capacity retention after 2500 cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conducting and alignment layers are critical for industrial scale manufacture of quality liquid crystal (LC) devices. To date, the conventional approaches utilize ITO-based electrodes as the conducting layer and rubbed polyimide as the aligning layer. However, usage of ITO has issues like scarcity of indium reserves, high cost, and toxicity, whereas employing rubbed polyimide demands high-temperature baking and mechanical rubbing that causes debris generation and electrostatic charges. Although offering a new outlook, CVD-based 2D materials provided a non-traditional route for fabricating the alignment layers. Furthermore, the previous studies are restricted to ITO-based conducting substrates and also calamitic molecules. However, from the utility point of view, the uniform alignment realized over only small areas necessitates alternative approaches to fabricate interfacial layers on non-ITO-based substrates utilizing solution-processed routes and deploying non-calamitic LCs also. Here, a generalized approach is presented to address the above-mentioned issues by considering an aluminium-doped zinc oxide (AZO) conducting layer and a hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) alignment layer deposited via the electrophoretic deposition technique. Upon fabrication of LC devices using h-BN/AZO, large-area (>3 cm2) unidirectional alignment of LC molecules is observed. The method works equally effectively for bent-core molecules also. The alignment quality is established by azimuthal angle dependence of transmission and birefringence intensity analysis. Several critical parameters were found to be comparable between h-BN/AZO and PI/ITO devices; like operating voltage (∼1 V), switching response (in ms), image retention aspect, and ionic parameters (e.g., ionic concentration on the order of 1019 m−3). This study underscores the potential of h-BN/AZO as a promising candidate for display technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fast-charging technology is set to revolutionize the field of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), driving the creation of nextgeneration devices with the ability to get charged within a short span of time. From the anode perspective, it is of paramount importance to design materials that can withstand continuous Li+ insertion/deinsertion at high charging rates and still remain unaffected by factors such as mechanical fractures, electrolyte side reactions, polarisation, lithium plating and heat generation. Herein, the recent advancements in the design of amorphous materials as anodes for fast-charging LIBs have been discussed. While the development of this particular class of materials for application in high-rate anodes has been paid limited attention in recent literature, it holds immense promise for improving the fast-charging capabilities. This concept summarizes the recent strides made in this emerging field, outlining the strategies employed in the design of amorphous anodes and emphasizing the crucial role played by the amorphous nature in achieving fast-charging performance. Further, the successive initiatives that can be undertaken to drive the progress of amorphous materials for fast charging LIBs have also been detailed, which could potentially improve their commercial viability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]