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As the demand for higher energy density in portable electronics and electric vehicles has increased, novel electrode materials with high reversible capacity have received significant research attention for breakthrough into next‐generation lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs) and sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs). Tin monosulfide is a particularly promising anode material for both LIBs and SIBs due to its exceptional electrochemical properties, thus several strategies based on nanoengineered SnS/carbon composites (NSCs) have been introduced to improve the electrical and ionic conductivity and to reduce the volume change that occurs during cycling. However, to fully exploit the outstanding properties of NSCs, the crystallographic orientation of anisotropic SnS should be optimized. Herein, vertically aligned SnS nanoplate arrays (VA‐SnS@C) with preferred (111) and (101) orientations covered by carbon layers are fabricated using a facile spin‐coating method followed by a simple glucose solution bath. The as‐fabricated (111)‐oriented VA‐SnS@C anode demonstrates better electrochemical performance than does the (040)‐oriented planar SnS (PL‐SnS@C) anode, illustrating the critical role of the crystallographic orientation in NSCs. The superior electrochemical performance of the VA‐SnS@C anode demonstrates that this facile approach harnesses the synergistic effects of orientation‐controlled SnS and versatile carbon layers, which is crucial to design high‐performance anodes for next‐generation LIBs and SIBs.

TiO2 has been widely used as an n-type overlayer, simultaneously serving as a protective layer for photocathodes. However, the photovoltage generated from a TiO2 junction with p-type absorbers, such as p-Si, Sb2Se3, SnS, and Cu2O, is insufficient. We report a dipole reorientation strategy to overcome this limitation by inserting a polyethylenimine ethoxylated (PEIE) layer between a p-type absorber and TiO2. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the PEIE dipole orientation can be rearranged by increasing the layer thickness, leading to an upward shift of the TiO2 band edge. The magnitude of band shift induced by the dipole effect depends on the TiO2 layer thickness. Using this approach, the onset potential was significantly improved to 0.5 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode (VRHE) in a p-Si/PEIE/TiO2/Pt device. The versatility of the effective dipole reorientation strategy was demonstrated by application to a range of TiO2-protected heterojunction photocathodes based on Sb2Se3, Cu2O, and SnS.

Due to their intrinsic spin control capability and excellent catalytic activity, chiral inorganic materials have been recognized as promising candidates for achieving a breakthrough in the solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of water-splitting...