Despite high-energy density and low cost of the lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries, their commercial success is greatly impeded by their severe capacity decay during long-term cycling caused by polysulfide shuttling. Herein, a new phase engineering strategy is demonstrated for making MXene/1T-2H MoS 2 -C nanohybrids for boosting the performance of Li-S batteries in terms of capacity, rate ability, and stability. It is found that the plentiful positively charged S-vacancy defects created on MXene/1T-2H MoS 2 -C, proved by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance, can serve as strong adsorption and activation sites for polar polysulfide intermediates, accelerate redox reactions, and prevent the dissolution of polysulfides. As a consequence, the novel MXene/1T-2H MoS 2 -C-S cathode delivers a high initial capacity of 1194.7 mAh g −1 at 0.1 C, a high level of capacity retention of 799.3 mAh g −1 after 300 cycles at 0.5 C, and reliable operation in soft-package batteries. The present MXene/1T-2H MoS 2 -C becomes among the best cathode materials for Li-S batteries.

The development of Li–S batteries is largely impeded by the growth of Li dendrites and polysulfide shuttling. To solve these two problems simultaneously, herein the study reports a “single atom array mimic” on ultrathin metal organic framework (MOF) nanosheet‐based bifunctional separator for achieving the highly safe and long life Li–S batteries. In the designed separator, the periodically arranged cobalt atoms coordinated with oxygen atoms (CoO4 moieties) exposed on the surface of ultrathin MOF nanosheets, “single atom array mimic”, can greatly homogenize Li ion flux through the strong Li ion adsorption with O atoms at the interface between anode and separator, leading to stable Li striping/plating. Meantime, at the cathode side, the Co single atom array mimic serves as “traps” to suppress polysulfide shuttling by Lewis acid‐base interaction. As a result, the Li–S coin cells with the bifunctional separator exhibit a long cycle life with an ultralow capacity decay of 0.07% per cycle over 600 cycles. Even with a high sulfur loading of 7.8 mg cm−2, an areal capacity of 5.0 mAh cm−2 can be remained after 200 cycles. Moreover, the assembled Li–S pouch cell displays stable cycling performance under various bending angles, demonstrating the potential for practical applications.

The development of new electrocatalysts with high activity and durability for alcohol oxidation is an emerging need of direct alcohol fuel cells. However, the commonly used Pt‐based catalysts still exhibit drawbacks including limited catalytic activity, high overpotential, and severe CO poisoning. Here a general approach is reported for preparing ultrathin PtNiM (M = Rh, Os, and Ir) nanowires (NWs) with excellent anti‐CO‐poisoning ability and high activity. Owing to their superior nanostructure and optimal electronic interaction, the ultrathin PtNiM NWs show enhanced electrocatalytic performance for both methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) and ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR). The optimal PtNiRh NWs show mass activity of 1.72 A mg−1 and specific activity of 2.49 mA cm−2 for MOR, which are 3.17 and 2.79 times higher than those of Pt/C. In particular, the onset potentials of PtNiRh NWs for MOR and EOR shift down by about 65 and 85 mV compared with those of Pt/C. Density functional theory calculations further verify their high antipoison properties for MOR and EOR from both an electronic and energetic perspective. Facilitated by the introduction of Rh and Ni, the stable pinning of the Pt 5d band associated with electron‐rich and depletion centers solves the dilemma between reactivity and anti‐CO poisoning.

Metal−organic framework (MOF) crystals of Cu3(BTC)2 with a high surface area (1396 m2·g−1) were synthesized and mixed with polyimide (PI) to prepare mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) for gas separations. The PI−Cu3(BTC)2 blend was successfully spun into MMM hollow fiber by the dry/wet-spinning method. SEM images of the fiber cross sections revealed significant plastic deformation of the polymer matrix owing to the strong affinity between Cu3(BTC)2 and PI. The H2 permeance and the selectivity of H2 with respect to other gases such as N2, CO2, O2, and CH4 both increased markedly with increased Cu3(BTC)2 loading. At a loading of 6 wt % Cu3(BTC)2, the permeance of H2 increased by 45%, and the ideal selectivity increased by a factor of 2−3 compared to the corresponding values for pure PI.