High-entropy materials are an emerging kind of solid-solution material, demonstrating various exotic physicochemical properties, that have led to increased research activity as electrode materials for rechargeable batteries. Here, a kind of high-entropy spinel oxide, (Co0.2Cr0.2Fe0.2Mn0.2Ni0.2)3O4 (CCFMNO), was successfully fabricated via a solution combustion method. Due to the entropy stabilization effect and the intrinsic high mechanical strength of CCFMNO, an excellent cycling stability can be achieved. In addition, the fruitful oxygen vacancies in CCFMNO increase extra Li-ion accommodation sites, accelerating electronic conductivity and promoting Li-ion migration, thus enabling a high rate performance of 428 mAh g–1 at a high current density of 10 A g–1. More impressively, CCFMNO electrodes demonstrate excellent temperature adaptability with no capacity degeneration after 50 cycles at 0, 25, and 50 °C. Meanwhile, a full cell based on a CCFMNO anode and LiFePO4 cathode delivers an impressive high energy density of 372 Wh kg–1. All these impressive lithium storage performances strongly suggest that CCFMNO could be a promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries.

The catalytic activity of Pt and Pt alloys for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is affected by the formation of Pt oxides at high potentials. The transient ORR and oxide behaviors of two PEM fuel cell catalysts (46 wt% Pt/V and 30 wt% PtCo/HSC) were studied by chronoamperometry at fixed potentials. Both rotating disk electrodes (RDEs) and membrane electrode assembly (MEAs) of fuel cells were used to compare how the transient formation of oxides and its effects on ORR activity may differ between these two common testing environments. Similar trends of recoverable activity degradation were observed for the RDE and MEA tests. Higher oxide coverages and faster oxide growth rates were observed for the alloyed PtCo/HSC catalyst in comparison to the Pt/V catalyst. The alloy showed higher initial activity but faster degradation rates over the brief time scales of these experiments. Results contradict the purely simple size effect as the explanation for the differences between the Pt and PtCo catalysts. We found that activity is not simply a function of oxide coverage, and is affected by additional mechanisms and conditions.

Binding of the fluoride ion triggers aggregation of a pyreneboronic acid-catechol ensemble in acidic aqueous solutions, giving rise to intense excimer emission, allowing for sensitive fluoride ion sensing at ppm levels, with an apparent fluoride binding constant higher than 10(3) M(-1) which is unprecedented for boronic acid sensors in water.

Lignin carbonaceous is extracted from alkali-treated rice husk waste liquid through an acid precipitation process, and used as carbon source to prepare porous carbon in one-step and twostep methods with zinc chloride as activator at different temperatures. Then the obtained rice husk lignin-derived porous carbon has been used as anode materials for the lithium-ion batteries. After comparison, the material obtained by calcination at 500°C (one-step method) has displayed excellent cycle stability and high cycle specific capacity (469 mAh g À 1 after 100 cycles), much higher than the theoretical capacity of graphite. Good electrochemical performance is attributed to the unique porous structure of lignin-derived carbon material, which can shorten the diffusion distance of lithium ions and increase the contact area between electrode and electrolyte. This work provides an effective method to rationally utilize biomass waste materials, and supplies a new kind of biomass carbon anode materials for lithium ion batteries.