We here report a much improved electrochemical performance of sodium batteries with the 9,10-anthraquinone (AQ) cathode encapsulated in CMK-3, an ether-based electrolyte of high-concentration CF3SO3Na (NaTFS) as a sodium salt in triethylene glycol dimethyl ether (TEGDME) solvent, and the Na anode.

Two composites of phosphorus nanoparticles encapsulated in graphene scrolls (P‐G) and phosphorus nanoparticles loaded on planar graphene sheets (P/G) were successfully prepared and applied as anodes for sodium‐ion batteries. Phosphorus nanoparticles (ca. 100–150 nm) were firstly obtained from commercial red phosphorus by using a simple flotation method. P‐G composites with different phosphorus contents (38.6, 52.2, and 62.1 %) were synthesized through a quick‐freezing process. In addition, the P/G composite with a phosphorus content of 50.8 % was prepared for comparison purposes. As a result, the P‐G composites showed a better performance than the P/G composite. Moreover, the P‐G composite with a phosphorus content of 52.2 % showed the best performance, delivering a capacity of 2355 mAh g−1 in the second cycle and 2172 mAh g−1 after 150 cycles at 250 mA g−1 (with a capacity retention of 92.3 %).

We report on the ice-templated preparation and sodium storage of ultrasmall SnO 2 nanoparticles (3-4 nm) embedded in three-dimensional (3D) graphene (SnO 2 @3DG). SnO 2 @3DG was fabricated by hydrothermal assembly with ice-templated 3DG and a tin source. The structure and morphology analyses showed that 3DG has an interconnected porous architecture with a large pore volume of 0.578 cm 3 ·g -1 and a high surface area of 470.5 m 2 ·g -1 . In comparison, SnO 2 @3DG exhibited a pore volume of 0.321 cm 3 ·g -1 and a surface area of 237.7 m 2 ·g -1 with a homogeneous distribution of ultrasmall SnO 2 nanoparticles in a 3DG network. SnO 2 @3DG showed a discharge capacity of 1,155 mA·h·g -1 in the initial cycle, a reversible capacity of 432 mA·h·g -1 after 200 cycles at 100 mA·g -1 (with capacity retention of 85.7% relative to that in the second cycle), and a discharge capacity of 210 mA·h·g -1 at a high rate of 800 mA·g -1 . This is due to the high distribution of SnO 2 nanoparticles in the 3DG network and the enhanced facilitation of electron/ion transport in the electrode.

and MnOOH. Among the tested samples, MnOOH@rGO exhibited superior ORR activity with a onset-potential of -0.11 V, a half-wave potential of -0.32 V and a high kinetic limiting current density (J k ) of 4.69 mA·cm -2 at -0.6 V. Furthermore, MnOOH@rGO enabled an apparent 4-electron reduction of oxygen and showed considerable durability. The superior performance of MnOOH@rGO hybrid was attributed to the synergistic effect of rGO substrate and MnOOH nanorods and indicated its promising application as efficient ORR catalyst.