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Lithium-ion batteries have dominated the energy market from portable electronic devices to electric vehicles. However, the LIBs applications are limited seriously when they were operated in the cold regions and seasons if there is no thermal protection. This is because the Li+ transportation capability within the electrode and particularly in the electrolyte dropped significantly due to the decreased electrolyte liquidity, leading to a sudden decline in performance and short cycle-life. Thus, design a low-temperature electrolyte becomes ever more important to enable the further applications of LIBs. Herein, we summarize the low-temperature electrolyte development from the aspects of solvent, salt, additives, electrolyte analysis, and performance in the different battery systems. Then, we also introduce the recent new insight about the cation solvation structure, which is significant to understand the interfacial behaviors at the low temperature, aiming to guide the design of a low-temperature electrolyte more effectively.

Metal-organic framework (MOF)-derived materials are attracting considerable attention because of the moldability in compositions and structures, enabling greater performances in diverse applications. However, the nanostructural control of multicomponent MOF-based complexes remains challenging due to the complexity of reaction mechanisms. Herein, we present a surface-induced self-nucleation-growth mechanism for the zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF) to prepare a new type of ZIF-8@SiO2 polyhedral nanoparticles. We discover that the Zn hydroxide moieties (Zn-OH) within ZIF-8 can trigger the hydrolysis of tetraethyl orthosilicate effectively on the ZIF-8 surface precisely, avoiding the formation of free orthosilicic acid (Si(OH)4) successfully. This is a pioneering work to elucidate the importance of MOF surface properties for preparing multicomponent materials. Then, a novel well-dispersed silicon hollow nanocage (H-Si@C) modified by the carbon was prepared after removal of the ZIF-8 and magnesiothermic reduction. The as-prepared H-Si@C demonstrates an overwhelmingly high lithium storage capability and extraordinary stability in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), particularly the impressive performances when it was matched with the LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 cathode in a full cell. The MOF surface-induced self-nucleation-growth strategy is useful for preparing more multifunctional materials, while the study of lithium storage performances of the H-Si@C material is practical for LIB applications.

Interface design is generally helpful to ameliorate the electrochemical properties of electrode materials but challenging as well. Herein, in situ sulfur-mediated interface engineering is developed to effectively raise the kinetics properties of the SnS nanosheet anodes, which is realized by a synchronous reduction and carbon deposition/doping process. The sulfur in the raw SnS

Structural design and/or carbon modification are the most important strategies to improve the performance of materials in many applications, where metal (oxide)-based anode design attracts great attention in metal ion batteries due to their high capacities. However, achieving these two goals within one-step remains challenging due to the lower cost and higher efficiency needed to satisfy the demand in practical application. Herein, we report a new approach for the crystal reconstruction of metal oxides by acetylene treatment, in which a hierarchical binary oxide decorated with carbon (i.e., Mn2Mo3O8@C) is introduced. The mechanism of constructing unique monocrystalline hexagonal nanoplates and uniform carbon coating is discussed in detail. Benefiting from the uniqueness of structure and composition, the Mn2Mo3O8@C demonstrates an extremely high lithium storage capacity of 890 mA h g-1 and good rate capacities at 20 A g-1 over 1000 cycles. In addition, the high rate capabilities and long cycle lifespan are further confirmed when the Mn2Mo3O8@C anode is matched with the nickel-rich layered oxide cathode. This study not only introduces a new binary oxide anode with high performances in lithium (ion) batteries but also presents a convenient methodology to design more advanced functional materials.

It is imminently to seek for high energy density in addition to a sensational lifetime of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) to meet growing requisition in the energy storage application. Anode containing metal oxide composite is being thoroughly investigated for their higher capacity than that of the commercial graphite. A multiporous core-shell structured metal oxide composite anode possessing the excellent capacity and superb lifespan for LIBs is designed. In detail, metal oxide (i.e., MnO) is encapsulated in N-doped carbon shell (MnO@N–C) via coprecipitation-annealing technique. During annealing, abundant void space among MnO cores/between MnO cores and N–C shells is obtained. This space can efficaciously buffer volume changes of MnO upon cycles. Benefiting from the unique structure and heteroatom doping, the capacity of MnO@N–C microcube anode exhibits 576 mAh g−1 at 5 A g−1 with an ultra-long lifespan more than 3500 cycles. The connection between the electrode characteristics and structure is concurrently examined by adopting kinetic analysis. Finally, a full lithium-ion battery is presented, applying the MnO@N–C (anode) and Nick-rich layered oxide (cathode). It is believed that structural designing with heteroatom doping can be utilized in vaster fields for superior capabilities.

Lithium (Li)-metal is considered to be the most promising candidate as an anode to design higher energy density lithium batteries because of its extremely high specific capacity (3860 mA h g−1) and lowest redox potential (−3.04 V vs. SHE). However, the safety concerns of lithium dendrites, low coulombic efficiency, and infinite volume variation remain challenging for practical applications. Herein, a free-standing 3D nitrogen–carbon anchored Cu nanorod array (NC/Cu) as a new current collector is introduced. It was in situ derived from a metal–organic framework (MOF) and could allow the dendrite-free deposition of the lithium metal. Benefiting from the uniqueness of the hetero-atom compositions and the 3D structure, the NC/Cu displayed much lower interfacial resistance and more stable Li plating/stripping behaviors compared to those of the planar Cu foil. A coulombic efficiency higher than 97% and long cycle life over 200 cycles were finely achieved with the specific capacity of 2.0 and 1.0 mA h cm−2, respectively. The merit of NC/Cu was further demonstrated in the lithium batteries versus the LiFePO4 cathode, where the cycle ability and electrochemical performances were significantly boosted. This study opens a new avenue to stabilize lithium metal anodes from the unique derivations of MOFs and more relevant researches on lithium metal chemistries deserve to be explored.

Carbon coated core-shell structured anode has been reported with advantages to enhance conductivity and partly buffer the volume expansion. However, huge mechanical stress and long lithium/sodium transmission distance also hinder the lithium/sodium storage performances. For maximum buffer effect, we herein design a multicore-shell CoSn@C nanocages with decreased particle size and enhanced extra space in comparison with the monocore-shell sample. This unique structure can effectively buffer the volume expansion in the deintercalation process, alleviate electrode pulverization and improve cyclic stability. Electrochemical tests show that multicore-shell CoSn@C nanocubes have excellent discharge capacities of 1010.9 mAh g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 after 160 cycles and 818 mAh g−1 at 1 A g−1 after 300 cycles for lithium ion battery anode, much higher than that of the monocore-shell sample. The sodium storage performance of the multicore-shell CoSn@C is also far more than the monocore-shell one. Above results suggests that fabrication of multicore-shell structure is an excellent design to buffer volume expansion and enhance performance for lithium and sodium storage.

Pursuing higher energy density and longer lifespan of alkaline ion batteries (i.e., Li+ and Na+) to satisfy the growing demand in the energy market remains challenging. One of the limitations is the graphite anode, which has limited lithium storage capability and is incapable of storing sodium. Herein, a unique metal sulfide-based anode with high capacity and extremely long cycle life was presented; a new concept of a self-breathable structure and hetero-atom doping features was introduced. In detail, a new aurilave-like structure composed of a metal sulfide shell and a nitrogen-doped carbon framework (e.g., N–C@MoS2) was constructed using natural spores as the template. Benefiting from the uniqueness of the bio-inspired structure and components, N–C@MoS2 exhibited extraordinary alkaline-ion storage performance with respect to rate capability, initial coulombic efficiency and cycle life, which were superior to those of most MoS2-based anodes reported before. We found that the inside of the aurilave structure served as a dynamic “electrolyte reservoir”, while the N–C skeleton acted as a “highway” for ion/electron transport, thereby leading to a deeper and faster conversion reaction rate. We hope that the bio-inspired architectures and components can be widely applied to design materials for other applications.

Sodium-ion batteries are promising alternatives for lithium-ion batteries due to their lower cost caused by global sodium availability. However, the low Coulombic efficiency (CE) of the sodium metal plating/stripping process represents a serious issue for the Na anode, which hinders achieving a higher energy density. Herein, we report that the Na

The pursuit of increased energy density and longer lifespan lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is urgently needed to satisfy a dramatically increased demand in the energy market. Currently, metal-oxide-based anodes are being intensively studied due to their higher capacities over current graphite anodes. This work introduces a sustainable strategy to construct a metal-oxide-based anode with high capacity and an extremely long lifecycle, in which the features of bioinspired architectures and heteroatom doping can contribute greatly to increased performances. In detail, 1D tubelike metal oxide (e.g., MnO) coated on an N-doped carbon framework (i.e. MnO/N-C) has been designed by using the naturally abundant and renewable Metaplexis japonica fibers (MJFs) as the biotemplate and heteroatom source. Benefiting from the uniqueness of structure and compositions, as-prepared MnO/N-C demonstrates extremely high rate capacities of 951, 777, 497, and 435 mAh g-1 at the rates of 0.5, 2, 4, and 5 Ag-1 , respectively, with a good stability of more than 1000 cycles. It was found that the electrochemical performances are superior to most previous MnO-based anodes, in which the faster kinetics of conversion due to the advantage of the ion/electron transportation and morphological evolution has been verified. It is hoped that the concept of bioinspired architectures with heteroatom doping can be applied in wider applications for increased capability.

Herein, AuxCu alloy nanoparticles (NPs) embedded into TiO2 nanocavity arrays (NCAs) were synthesized by e-Beam deposition and thermal dewetting. The periodically dispersed AuxCu NPs displayed strong ultraviolet-visible light absorption through plasmonic resonance, especially after forming an AuxCu–CuS core–shell heterostructure by sulfurization. When used as a photocatalyst for glycerol oxidation, the AuxCu–CuS heterostructure showed high conversion efficiency (72%) and superb selectivity (66%) for dihydroxyacetone, even under neutral conditions and without an external heating source. The favorable photothermally enhanced oxidative activity originates from the synergistic core–shell and plasmonic effects in the AuxCu–CuS@TiO2 heterostructure. This work suggests a promising strategy for integrating the photothermal effect into the photocatalytic production of valuable organic compounds, therefore boosting solar energy conversion efficiency.

In this work, nano-structured Mn3O4 particles with spongy-morphology were synthesized through vesicle templating, where hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) were used as cationic-anionic surfactants. The Mn3O4 electrode materials exhibited a high specific capacitance (451 F g−1) at a current density of 0.5 A g−1 in 1 mol L−1 Na2SO4 electrolyte, and retained 333 F g−1 when the current density was increased to 5 A g−1. Its capacitance retention is also high (up to 92%) after 10,000 cycles at a current density of 5 A g−1.

A new galvanic replacement synthetic strategy using metallic Ti as a template for hollow voids is presented and an intriguing hollow interwoven structured Sb/TiO2 is introduced. The applied Ti can play the triple role of reducing the Sb-ion into Sb, acting as a sacrificial template to generate hollow voids through a structural evolution and behaving as an alternative non-sensitive titanium salt to form TiO2. Interwoven Sb/TiO2 can be readily activated and can also buffer drastic volumetric variations during storage of alkaline ions (e.g. Li+, Na+), thereby demonstrating high capacity and superior cycling ability in rechargeable batteries.

With the aim of finding efficient non-noble metal catalysts for water splitting, hierarchical Ni-Mo-polydopamine microflowers (Ni-Mo2 C/C MF) were synthesized through a facile aqueous-phase reaction at room temperature. NiMoO4 nanowires were utilized as both Ni and Mo source; they can complex with dopamine to form a hierarchical structure and affect the scale of the final product. The energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) measurement of Ni-Mo2 C/C microflowers (MF) shows a high content of Mo2 C and Ni (>90 wt %). For the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), the Ni-Mo2 C/C MF displays a low overpotential of 99 mV at a current density of -10 mA cm-2 and a small Tafel slope of 73 mV dec-1 in 1.0 m KOH. By comparison with Mo2 C/C microspheres (MS), the nanosized Ni-doped particles offer more active sites and enhance the kinetic performance. This facile synthesis strategy is also suitable for preparing other metal-Mo2 C/C composites that can be used in the fields of catalysis and energy conversion.

Multi-dimensional metal oxides have attracted great attention in diverse applications due to their intriguing performances. However, their structural design remains challenging, particularly that based on organic chelation chemistry. Although metal-organic complexes with different architectures have been reported, their structure formation mechanisms are not well understood because of the complex chelation processes. Herein, we introduce a new metal-organic coordination strategy to construct metal-decorated (Ni, Co, Mn) Mo-based complexes ranging from 2D nanopetals to 3D microflowers. The chelating process of the metal-organic complex can be tuned by a surfactant, giving rise to different structures, and then a further metal can be appended. Thus, different metal (oxide)-decorated MoO

In this study, GO-MOFs derived rGO coating/sandwiching Co3O4 composites (denoted as rGO/Co3O4) are fabricated by employing a temperate coprecipitation method with ZIF-67 rhombic dodecahedron as a template and GO as a substrate. In these composites, nanoporous and rGO coating (denoted as rGO@Co3O4)/sandwiching (denoted as Co3O4-rGO-Co3O4) structures are designed, which endow the composites with strong potential application as electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and supercapacitors (SCs). Here, the as-prepared rGO@Co3O4 and Co3O4-rGO-Co3O4 composites not only exhibit outstanding lithium storage performances with high initial discharge specific capacities (1451 and 1344 mA h g−1 at a current density of 100 mA g−1), excellent cycling stabilities (above 96% and 95% retention after 100 cycles) and admirable rate capabilities (328 and 450 mA h g−1 at a current density of 2000 mA g−1), but also display superior pseudocapacitive properties with high specific capacitance (546 F g−1), remarkable rate capability and brilliant cycling stability (90% of initial capacitance retention at 5 A g−1 after 10000 cycles). The remarkable porous architecture and electrical conductivity enables GO-MOFs derived transition metal oxide composites to be promising electrode materials for next generation LIBs and SCs.

Porous Mn 3 O 4 with micro/nano-structure were fabricated by a modified solvothermal approach using hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide as a surfactant and CH 3 CH 2 OH/H 2 O as a co-solvent, in which H 2 O derives from the source material crystalline hydrate Mn(CH 3 COO) 2 .4H 2 O. It is found that a number of micelles form synchronously surrounding the crystalline hydrate with the addition of Mn(CH 3 COO) 2 .4H 2 O. The Mn 3 O 4 prepared presents a micro/nano-structure self-assembled by two-dimensional lamella structure with a thickness of approximately 100 nm, and a mesoporous with a specific surface area of 138.5 m 2 g −1 and a total pore volume of 0.273 cm 3 g −1 . The electrochemical performance of the porous Mn 3 O 4 used as a supercapacitor electrode exhibits a relatively high specific capacitance value of 302 F g −1 at a low current density of 0.5 A g −1 , and a good high-rate dischargeability (246 F g −1 , 81% capacity retention when the current densities are increased by 10 times (5 A g −1 )), as well as good cycling stability (89% retention after 5000 th charge/discharge cycles at 5 A g −1 ).

Creating new nanostructured materials inspired by biomaterials is one of the most fascinating topics owing to their fantastic properties. Herein, we synthesize a new hollow aurilave-like carbon using the natural spores of Lycoperdon Boavista (SLBs) as hard-template, where the heteroatom of nitrogen and oxygen can be in-situ doped simultaneously. The hollow N/O-co-doped carbon (HNOC) has a high specific surface area and is rich in defects, enabling high performances in sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) and supercapacitors (SCs). A high sodium storage capacity of 246 and 107 mAh g−1 with superior stability over 1000 cycles can be achieved at the rates of 0.1 and 2 A g−1, respectively. Besides, the high rate capacity of 260 F g−1 at 5 A g−1 and extraordinary cycling stability over 10,000 cycles are also demonstrated in SCs. The great features of HNOC are further studied versus Na3V2(PO4)3 cathode in a sodium ion full battery, where the excellent stability and span life are both confirmed. We hope this newly-designed carbon material could complement the structure-related properties in electrochemistry, and also the presented synthetic strategy can be widely extended for designing more functional materials with greater capabilities.

Carbon modification is one of the most important strategies to boost the performance of the material in many applications, where the carbon modified metal (oxide) anode gains great attention in metal-ion batteries due to their high capacity and improved stability. However, a close-knit carbon coating through an efficient and cost-effective approach remains challenging for satisfying the demand in practical application. Herein, a new in-situ self-catalytic approach by acetylene treatment is presented, in which a tunable graphitized carbon layer can be knitted on the metal (oxide) directly to produce many kinds of core-shell structured metal (oxide)@C hybrid materials. The in-situ triggering mechanism of forming graphitized carbon is discussed in detail using the model of MnO. Then, we find that the as-prepared MnO@C exhibits an extremely high lithium storage capacity of 1077 mAh g−1 and good rate capacities at 10 A g−1 over 500 cycles. In addition, a new full battery of MnO@C || LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 is constructed, where the high capacity retention of 73.1% at 0.5C over 250 cycles is well confirmed. This study not only opens a new avenue to prepare more carbon decorated functional materials but also explores the potential applications of metal (oxide)-based materials for high-performance rechargeable batteries.

A new galvanic replacement synthetic strategy using metallic Ti as a template for hollow voids is presented and an intriguing hollow interwoven structured Sb/TiO2 is introduced. The applied Ti can play the triple role of reducing the Sb-ion into Sb, acting as a sacrificial template to generate hollow voids through a structural evolution and behaving as an alternative non-sensitive titanium salt to form TiO2. Interwoven Sb/TiO2 can be readily activated and can also buffer drastic volumetric variations during storage of alkaline ions (e.g. Li+, Na+), thereby demonstrating high capacity and superior cycling ability in rechargeable batteries.

Micro/nano-structured Mn3O4 with an open three-dimensional flower-like morphology were fabricated by a facile solvothermal approach using hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide as a surfactant and CH3CH2OH as a solvent. The Mn3O4 microspheres were self-assembled by one-dimensional nanowires; in addition, a dandelion-structure formation mechanism of the Mn3O4 microspheres is discussed. The Mn3O4 microspheres used as a supercapacitor electrode in 1 mol L−1 Na2SO4 electrolyte have a specific capacitance value of 286 F g−1 at a low current density of 0.5 A g−1, and can still retain 80% (230 F g−1) and 73% specific capacitance (210 F g−1) when the current densities are increased ten-fold (5 A g−1) and twenty-fold (10 A g−1), respectively. In addition, the capacitance retention is 90% after 1000 cycles at a current density of 5 A g−1. In comparison with Mn3O4 synthesized in N,N-dimethylformamide solvent at 0.5 A g−1 and 5 A g−1, the specific capacitance obtained increased by 18.7% and 17.4%, respectively.

Porous nanostructured Mn3O4 particles were successfully synthesized by a novel hydrothermal method via adding the surfactant hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB). They were characterized by the techniques of thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and N2-adsorption. The electrochemical performance of the sample was studied by galvanostatic charge–discharge, cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in 1 M Na2SO4 aqueous solution electrolyte. It exhibits a high specific capacitance (232.5 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1) and good rate capability (190 F g−1 at 5 A g−1), which can be attributed to its porous structure, the defects and vacancies on the surface. The capacitance retention reaches 78% after 5000 cycles at a current density of 5 A g−1. The results show that Mn3O4 has the potential to be used as the electrode material for a supercapacitor with high performance.

Highly uniform hierarchical Mo-polydopamine hollow spheres are synthesized for the first time through a liquid-phase reaction under ambient temperature. A self-assembly mechanism of the hollow structure of Mo-polydopamine precursor is discussed in detail, and a determined theory is proposed in a water-in-oil system. Via different annealing process, these precursors can be converted into hierarchical hollow MoO

With the aim of finding efficient non-noble metal catalysts for water splitting, hierarchical Ni-Mo-polydopamine microflowers (Ni-Mo

This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21978281, 21975250) and National Key R&D Program of China (SQ2017YFE9128100). The authors also thank the Independent Research Project of the State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resources Utilization (110005R086), Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The research was also supported by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

Highly uniform hierarchical Mo–polydopamine hollow spheres are synthesized for the first time through a liquid-phase reaction under ambient temperature. A self-assembly mechanism of the hollow structure of Mo–polydopamine precursor is discussed in detail, and a determined theory is proposed in a water-in-oil system. Via different annealing process, these precursors can be converted into hierarchical hollow MoO2/C and Mo2C/C composites without any distortion in shape. Owing to the well-organized structure and nanosize particle embedding, the as-prepared hollow spheres exhibit appealing performance both as the anode material for lithium-ion batteries and as the catalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Accordingly, MoO2/C delivers a high reversible capacity of 940 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1 and 775 mAh g−1 at 1 A g−1 with good rate capability and long cycle performance. Moreover, Mo2C/C also exhibits an enhanced electrocatalytic performance with a low overpotential for HER in both acidic and alkaline conditions, as well as remarkable stability.