The sulfurized polyacrylonitrile (SPAN) cathode is the focal point of recent research in lithium−sulfur batteries due to its efficient polysulfide shuttle effect and boosting battery efficiency. However, the SPAN cathode needs to be enhanced to demonstrate more excellent electrochemical performance and kinetic characteristics encouraged by the chemical makeup of the metal−organic frameworks (MOFs) and their effectiveness in the redox reactions of the battery. ZIF67 nanoparticles are grown in situ onto the fiber networks of a high-density glass fiber (GF) separator. They are dynamically activated in a vacuum oven. The open metal sites created after ZIF67 activation can effectively trap anions and improve Li + transport properties. The transference number (t Li + ) was predicted to be 0.49, thereby improving the electrochemical performances of the Li-SPAN battery. The anode and cathode exhibited better compatibility with the separator. The Li//Li symmetrical cells based on the ZIF67@GF separator exhibited low polarization and were stable for up to 600 h. A Li/ZIF67@GF/SPAN full cell also showed a small voltage polarization effect and had a starting capacity of 1590 mAh g −1 at 0.1C rate. The improved high-rate capability (ca. 714 mAh g −1 at 10C) of Li/ZIF@GF/ SPAN cells was better than that of the Li/bare GF/SPAN cells. The long-term cycling performance was improved significantly, with a decay rate of 0.05% per cycle at 2C over 600 cycles and the ability to perform 1000 cycles at a rate of 5C with 75.3% capacity retention. Thus, our findings support that the Li-SPAN cell equipped with a GF separator with in situ grown ZIF67 nanoparticles substantially improved the electrochemical performance.

Hierarchical porous activated carbon (HPAC) materials with fascinating porous features are favored for their function as active materials for supercapacitors. However, achieving high mass-loading of the HPAC electrodes remains challenging. Inspired by the concepts of carbon/carbon (C/C) composites and hydrogels, a novel hydrogel-derived HPAC (H-HPAC) encapsulated H-HPAC (H@H) composite material was successfully synthesized in this study. In comparison with the original H-HPAC, it is noticed that the specific surface area and pore parameters of the resulting H@H are observably decreased, while the proportions of nitrogen species are dramatically enhanced. The free-standing and flexible H@H electrodes with a mass-loading of 7.5 mg/cm2 are further prepared for electrochemical measurements. The experiments revealed remarkable reversible capacitance (118.6 F/g at 1 mA/cm2), rate capability (73.9 F/g at 10 mA/cm2), and cycling stability (76.6% of retention after 30,000 cycles at 5 mA) are delivered by the coin-type symmetric cells. The cycling stability is even better than that of the H-HPAC electrode. Consequently, the findings of the present study suggest that the nature of the HPAC surface is a significant factor affecting the corresponding capacitive performances.