A new type of amino polar binder with 3D network flexibility structure for high energy Li-S batteries is synthesized and successfully used with commercial sulfur powder cathodes. The binder shows significant performance improvement in capacity retention and high potential for practical application, which arouse the battery community's interest in the commercial application of high energy Li-S battery.

A sustainable route from the biomass byproduct okara as a natural nitrogen fertilizer to high-content N-doped carbon sheets is demonstrated. The as-prepared unique structure exhibits high specific capacity (292 mAh g(-1) ) and extremely long cycle life (exceeding 2000 cycles). A full battery is devised for the practical use of materials with a flexible/wearable LED screen.

Sodium-ion battery (SIB) is especially attractive in cost-effective energy storage device as an alternative to lithium-ion battery. Particularly, metal phosphides as potential anodes for SIBs have recently been demonstrated owing to their higher specifi c capacities compared with those of carbonaceous materials. Unfortunately, most reported metal phosphides consist of irregular particles ranged from several hundreds nanometers to tens of micrometers, thus delivering limited cyclic stability. This paper reports the sodium storage properties of additive-free Cu 3 P nanowire (CPNW) anode directly grown on copper current collector via an in situ growth followed by phosphidation method. Therefore, as a result of its structure features, CPNW anode demonstrates highly stable cycling ability with an ≈70% retention in capacity at the 260th cycle, whereas most reported metal phosphides have limited cycle numbers ranged between 30 and 150. Besides, the reaction mechanism between Cu 3 P and Na is investigated by examining the intermediate products at different charge/discharge stages using ex situ X-ray diffraction measurements. Furthermore, to explore the practical application of CPNW anode, a pouch-type Na + full cell consisting of CPNW anode and Na 3 V 2 (PO 4 ) 3 cathode is assembled and characterized. As a demonstration, a 10 cm × 10 cm light-emmiting diode (LED) screen is successfully powered by the Na + full cell. Figure 6. a) Schematic representation of the pouch-type CPNW/NVP Na + full cell. b) Cycling performance of the CPNW/NVP Na + full cell at current densities of 600 mA g −1 . c,d) Optical images showing a fl exible LED screen powered by the pouch-type CPNW/NVP Na + full cell. wileyonlinelibrary.com

The electroreduction of nitrogen to ammonia offers a promising alternative to the energy-intensive Haber–Bosch process. Unfortunately, the reaction suffers from low activity and selectivity, owing to competing hydrogen evolution and the poor accessibility of nitrogen to the electrocatalyst. Here, we report that deliberately triggering a salting-out effect in a highly concentrated electrolyte can simultaneously tackle the above challenges and achieve highly efficient ammonia synthesis. The solute ions exhibit strong affinity for the surrounding H2O molecules, forming a hydration shell and limiting their efficacy as both proton sources and solvents. This not only effectively suppresses hydrogen evolution but also ensures considerable nitrogen flux at the reaction interface via heterogeneous nucleation of the precipitate, thus facilitating the subsequent reduction process in terms of both selectivity and activity. As expected, even when assembled with a metal-free electrocatalyst, a high Faradaic efficiency of 71 ± 1.9% is achieved with this proof-of-concept system.

In the quest to develop next generation lithium ion battery anode materials, satisfactory electrochemical performance and low material/fabrication cost are the most desirable features. In this article, porous Si nanowires are synthesized by a cost‐effective metal‐assisted chemical etching method using cheap metallurgical silicon as feedstock. More importantly, a thin oxide layer (≈3 nm) formed on the surface of porous Si nanowires stabilizes the cycling performance of lithium ion batteries. Such an oxide coating is able to constrain the huge volume expansion of the underlying Si, yet it is thin enough to ensure good permeability for both lithium ions and electrons. Therefore, the extraordinary storage capacity of Si can be well retained in prolonged electrochemical cycles. Specifically, Si/SiOx nanowires deliver a reversible capacity of 1503 mAh g−1 at the 560th cycle at a current density of 600 mA g−1, demonstrating an average of only 0.04% drop per cycle compared with its initial capacity. Furthermore, the highly porous structure and thin Si wall facilitate the electrolyte penetration and shorten the solid‐state lithium transportation path, respectively. As a result, stable and satisfactory reversible capacities of 1297, 976, 761, 548, and 282 mAh g−1 are delivered at current densities of 1200, 2400, 3600, 4800, and 7200 mA g−1, respectively.