Although sodium ion batteries (SIBs) possess many beneficial features, their rate performance, cycling stability, and safety need improvement for commercial applications. Based on the mechanisms of the sodium ions storage in carbon materials, herein we present a multiple active sites decorated amorphous carbon (MAC) with rich structural defects and heteroatom doping as an anode material for SIBs. The full utilization of fast bonding–debonding processes between the active sites and sodium ions could bring a capacitive strategy to achieve superior sodium storage properties. Consequently, after materials characterization and electrochemical evaluation, the as‐prepared electrode could deliver high rate and long‐life performance. This active‐site‐related design could be extended to other types of electrode materials, thereby contributing to future practical SIB applications.

Metal sulfides have been considered promising anode materials for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) due to their high specific capacities. However, the poor electrical conductivity and sluggish electrochemical kinetics of metal sulfides are the critical factors that are limiting their applications. In this work, cobalt sulfides with heterostructures embedded in an N-doped carbon composite (CoS/Co 9 S 8 @NC) have been synthesized to further investigate Na + diffusion in the SIBs. With contributions from the heterostructure, the N-doped carbon, and the unique morphology, the composite can deliver enhanced rate capability and cycling stability compared to Co 9 S 8 . This work depicts the change of Na + diffusion under the influence of heterostructures, providing an effective strategy of material design for enhancing the electrochemical performance of sodium-ion storage.

Although sodium ion batteries (SIBs) possess many beneficial features,their rate performance,cycling stability,and safety need improvement for commercial applications.B ased on the mechanisms of the sodium ions storage in carbon materials,h erein we present am ultiple active sites decorated amorphous carbon (MAC) with rich structural defects and heteroatom doping as an anode material for SIBs.T he full utilization of fast bonding-debonding processes between the active sites and sodium ions could bring acapacitive strategy to achieve superior sodium storage properties.C onsequently, after materials characterization and electrochemical evaluation, the as-prepared electrode could deliver high rate and long-life performance.T his active-site-related design could be extended to other types of electrode materials,t herebyc ontributing to future practical SIB applications.

Fe doped TiO 2 ceramic films were fabricated on carbon steel by plasma electrolytic oxidation. The microstructure of the film was characterised, and the photocatalytic activities of the films were evaluated. The results showed that the phases of the films were anatase TiO 2 and Al 2 TiO 5 . The film surface was rough and porous. With increasing the treatment time, the pores on film surfaces gradually became deep and large, which made the film surfaces rougher. Fe-TiO 2 films showed red shift in photoresponse towards the visible region. The photocatalytic activities of the films were evaluated by photocatalytic oxidation of Rhodamine B aqueous under visible light irradiation. The results revealed that the film showed visible light photocatalytic activity. With increasing treatment time, the degradation rate of rhodamine B gradually increased and the highest degradation rate was ,80% in visible light irradiation for 6 h.

SiO2 is regarded as one of the most promising anode materials for Li‐ion batteries due to its high capacity, low cost and other merits. However, the poor conductivity and the volume change are still hindering its practical applications. In this work, a rambutan‐inspired structure is designed to fabricate amorphous SiO2@N, P co‐doped porous carbon frameworks from biomass. The carbon shell could connect with each other, providing good conductivity. After partially etching of the SiO2, the yolk‐shell structure could buffer the volume changes of SiO2 during the charge/discharge processes without destroying the conducting shell. Besides, N, P doping and graphite nano crystallites in the frameworks could also offer more active sites for Li+ storage. As a result, the composite can not only exhibit excellent rate performance nearly 300 mAh g−1 at a current density of 2000 mA g−1, but also deliver a surprisingly stable reversible capacity of 373 mAh g−1 over 1000 cycles at the current density of 500 mA g−1 with the Coulombic efficiency beyond 99%. Considering the facile preparation and satisfactory lithium storage abilities, this composite design could be able to extend for practical battery application.