In this work, a multifunctional binder with self‐healing, flame retardant, high conductivity, and abundant polar groups is prepared by the free radical polymerization method and applied to lithium–sulfur (Li‐S) batteries to achieve high safety and exceptional electrochemical performance. The self‐healing characteristic of binder induced by intermolecular hydrogen bonds and SS dynamic covalent bonds can repair volume expansion cracks. The polar groups and excellent conductivity endue binder with strong chemisorption on polysulfides and fast charge transportation, which can effectively inhibit the shuttle effect and accelerate polysulfides redox kinetics. More important, the considerable flame retardant performance of binder can improve the safety of the LiS batteries. As a result, the LiS cells using FHCP binder deliver an outstanding cycle stability of a high‐capacity retention rate of 85% after 100 cycles at 0.2 C, and a high reversible area specific capacity of 5.25 mAh cm–2 at a sulfur loading of 4.72 mg cm–2 and a correspondingly lean electrolyte condition (E/S ratio = 6 µL mg–1).

The catalytic performance of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) in Li‐S batteries is significantly hindered by unsuitable pore size, low conductivity, and large steric contact hindrance between the catalytic site and lithium polysulfide (LPSs). Herein, the smallest π‐conjugated hexaaminobenzene (HAB) as linker and Ni(II) ions as skeletal node are in situ assembled into high crystallinity Ni‐HAB 2D conductive MOFs with dense Ni‐N4 units via dsp2 hybridization on the surface of carbon nanotube (CNT), fabricating Ni‐HAB@CNT as separator modified layer in Li‐S batteries. As‐obtained unique π‐d conjugated Ni‐HAB nanostructure features ordered micropores with suitable pore size (≈8 Å) induced by HAB ligands, which can cooperate with dense Ni‐N4 chemisorption sites to effectively suppress the shuttle effect. Meanwhile, the conversion kinetics of LPSs is significantly accelerated owing to the small steric contact hindrance and increased delocalized electron density endued by the planar tetracoordinate structure. Consequently, the Li‐S battery with Ni‐HAB@CNT modified separator achieves an areal capacity of 6.29 mAh cm−2 at high sulfur loading of 6.5 mg cm−2 under electrolyte/sulfur ratio of 5 µL mg−1. Moreover, Li‐S single‐electrode pouch cells with modified separators deliver a high reversible capacity of 791 mAh g−1 after 50 cycles at 0.1 C with electrolyte/sulfur ratio of 6 µL mg−1.

Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) suffers from four-electron transfer, sluggish kinetics and high energy requirements, limiting the development of new energy technologies such as hydrogen production from water electrolysis. In recent years, non-noble metal composite catalysts have attracted increasing attention due to their advantages of excellent catalytic activity and cost compared with noble metal-based catalysts. This review summarizes the latest progress in this field. Firstly, the OER mechanism and the evaluation methods of catalytic performance are briefly introduced. Then the non-noble metal/nitrogen-doped carbon composites are further classified into metal/nitrogen-doped carbon composites, metal single atom/nitrogen-doped carbon composites, alloy/nitrogen-doped carbon composites, and metal oxide/nitrogen-doped carbon composites. The research progress of the electrocatalysts is summarized and analyzed based on the synthesis method and catalytic activity, aiming to explore the role of nitrogen-doped carbon materials in catalyst structure and catalyst performance. Finally, perspectives are given out for the current problems and future directions of non-noble metal/nitrogen-doped carbon composites.

As is well known that the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is dominant to determine water splitting, regulating the electronic structure of the electrocatalyst has been demonstrated to be an effective strategy for improving OER activity. Herein, Ru− Co spinel oxides with abundant cobalt vacancies (V Co -RCO) are successfully developed as a highly efficient electrocatalyst for OER. Interestingly, the introduction of Ru can induce the formation of cobalt vacancies, which can modulate the electronic state of V Co -RCO, optimizing the location of the d-band center and generating neighboring Ru−Co synergies, thereby improving the OER catalytic activity. As a result, the V Co -RCO exhibits a small overpotential of 240 mV at 10 mA/cm 2 , which is more advanced than that of Co 3 O 4 , RCO without defect, and various RuO 2 catalysts. The in situ Raman analysis and density functional theory calculations further confirm the neighboring Ru−Co synergies of V Co -RCO, and this mechanism can not only facilitate fast electron transfer between Ru and Co sites through the bridging OOH but also reduce the adsorption strength of OER intermediates, leading to a significant enhancement of OER catalytic activity.

Functionalized porous carbons are central to various important applications such as energy storage and conversion. Here, a simple synthetic route to prepare oxygen-rich carbon nitrides (CNOs) decorated with stable Ni and Fe-nanosites is demonstrated. The CNOs are prepared via a salt templating method using ribose and adenine as precursors and CaCl 2 •2H 2 O as a template. The formation of supramolecular eutectic complexes between CaCl 2 •2H 2 O and ribose at relatively low temperatures facilitates the formation of a homogeneous starting mixture, promotes the condensation of ribose through the dehydrating effect of CaCl 2 •2H 2 O to covalent frameworks, and finally generates homogeneous CNOs. As a specific of the recipe, the condensation of the precursors at higher temperatures and the removal of water promotes the recrystallization of CaCl 2 (T < T m = 772 °C), which then acts as a hard porogen. Due to salt catalysis, CNOs with oxygen and nitrogen contents as high as 12 and 20 wt%, respectively, can be obtained, while heteroatom content stayed about unchanged even at higher temperatures of synthesis, pointing to the extraordinarily high stability of the materials. After decorating Ni and Fe-nanosites onto the CNOs, the materials exhibit high activity and stability for electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction with an overpotential of 351 mV.