Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) with the characteristics of low production costs and good safety have been regarded as ideal candidates for large-scale energy storage applications. However, the nonconductive and non-redox active polymer used as the binder in the traditional preparation of electrodes hinders the exposure of active sites and limits the diffusion of ions, compromising the energy density of the electrode in ZIBs. Herein, we fabricated vanadium pentoxide nanofibers/carbon nanotubes (V₂O₅/CNTs) hybrid films as binder-free cathodes for ZIBs. High ionic conductivity and electronic conductivity were enabled in the V₂O₅/CNTs film due to the porous structure of the film and the introduction of carbon nanotubes with high electronic conductivity. As a result, the batteries based on the V₂O₅/CNTs film exhibited a higher capacity of 390 mAh g⁻¹ at 1 A g⁻¹, as compared to batteries based on V₂O₅ (263 mAh g⁻¹). Even at 5 A g⁻¹, the battery based on the V₂O₅/CNTs film maintained a capacity of 250 mAh g⁻¹ after 2000 cycles with a capacity retention of 94%. In addition, the V₂O₅/CNTs film electrode also showed a high energy/power density (e.g., 67 kW kg⁻¹/267 Wh kg⁻¹). The capacitance response and rapid diffusion coefficient of Zn²⁺ (~10⁻⁸ cm⁻² s⁻¹) can explain the excellent rate capability of V₂O₅/CNTs. The vanadium pentoxide nanofibers/carbon nanotubes hybrid film as binder-free cathodes showed a high capability and a stable cyclability, demonstrating that it is highly promising for large-scale energy storage applications.

Silicon (Si) is widely regarded as one of the most promising anode materials for lithium-ion batteries due to its exceptionally high specific capacity. However, the significant volumetric change (up to 400%) of the Si anode degrades the solid–electrolyte interphase (SEI) and significantly hinders its practical application. Herein, we modulate the formation of fine-grained SEI composed of multiple layers by using a pulse electrochemical activation mode, where each layer is uniformly distributed with fine inorganic particles and interspersed with buffer organics. This tailored multilayer fine-grained SEI effectively promotes the lithium-ion diffusion kinetics through the SEI featuring a small Gibbs free energy (0.235 eV), which is only 1/5 of the typical double-layer SEI, as well as smaller charge transfer resistances during the whole electrochemical processes. Moreover, it exhibits a high Young's modulus of 12.5 GPa in comparison to that of the typical double-layer SEI (5.1 GPa) and much-inhibited stress and strain, so as to generate lower thickness expansion/shrinkage ratios. Consequently, the assembled Si/C‖LiFePO₄ full cell, operating at a current density of 1 A g⁻¹, demonstrates a remarkable capacity retention of 93.6% after 583 cycles, which also shows a practical application by powering an unmanned aircraft. This interfacial engineering maneuver sheds light on enhancing the electrochemical performance of other high-capacity electrode materials with substantial volume changes.

In this study, the spatiotemporal distribution of microplastic deposition was investigated through ordinary Kriging interpolation, and the potential source

Tin chalcogenides are considered as promising anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to their high theoretical lithium-storage capacity. Herein, we have successfully synthesized the composites of tin chalcogenides and graphite, that is, SnS/C, SnSe/C, and SnS_0.5Se_0.5/C, via a simple one-pot solid-state method. During the electrochemical test, they exhibit excellent lithium-storage ability and cyclic performance as the anode electrodes of LIBs due to the introduction of carbon. In particular, (i) SnS/C displayed a high specific capacity of 875 mAh g^–1 at 0.2 A g^–1 over 200 cycles; (ii) SnSe/C presents 734 mAh g^–1 at 0.2 A g^–1 after 100 cycles, and it delivers 690 mAh g^–1 at 1.0 A g^–1 over 300 cycles; and (iii) the SnS_0.5Se_0.5/C composite electrode delivers a specific capacity of 643 mAh g^–1 at 0.5 A g^–1 over 150 cycles. Furthermore, another series of tin-based composites have also been successfully fabricated (i.e., Sn/C, SnS₂/C, SnSe₂/C, and SnTe/C), showing the general applicability of the synthetic route applied here. Our synthetic approach demonstrates a promising route for the large-scale production of high-performance tin chalcogenides/C anode materials for LIBs and other battery systems (e.g., Na-ion and K-ion batteries).

Herein, we successfully synthesized two novel metal thiophosphites (MTPs) hybridized with carbon, that is, NiPS₃/C and SnPS₃/C composites, via an environment-friendly and cost-effective approach without harsh reaction conditions. Subsequently, the electrochemical performances of NiPS₃/C and SnPS₃/C composites have been investigated in coin-cells, and it is revealed that MTPs/C have a significantly higher Li-storage capacity and better stability compared to the MTPs without carbon. Moreover, the SnPS₃/C electrode shows a lower internal resistance and a better rate performance compared to NiPS₃/C. We employed extensive ex situ experiments to characterize the materials and interpreted the remarkably improved performance of MTPs/C.