To improve Li storage capacity and the structural stability of Ti₃C₂ MXene-based electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), a facile strategy is developed to construct three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical porous Ti₃C₂/bimetal-organic framework (NiCo-MOF) nanoarchitectures as anodes for high-performance LIBs. 2D Ti₃C₂ nanosheets are coupled with NiCo-MOF nanoflakes induced by hydrogen bonds to form 3D Ti₃C₂/NiCo-MOF composite films through vacuum-assisted filtration technology. The morphology and electrochemical properties of Ti₃C₂/NiCo-MOF are influenced by the mass ratio of MOF to Ti₃C₂. Owing to the interconnected porous structures with a high specific surface area, rapid charge transfer process, and Li⁺ diffusion rate, the Ti₃C₂/NiCo-MOF-0.4 electrode delivers a high reversible capacity of 402 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.1 A g⁻¹ after 300 cycles; excellent rate performance (256 mAh g⁻¹ at 1 A g⁻¹); and long-term stability with a capacity retention of 85.7% even after 400 cycles at a high current density, much higher than pristine Ti₃C₂ MXene. The results highlight that Ti₃C₂/NiCo-MOF have great potential in the development of high-performance energy storage devices.

In this work, a facile two-step strategy is adopted to construct hierarchical polyaniline/NiCo-layered double hydroxide (PANI/NiCo-LDH) core-shell composite nanofiber networks on carbon cloth (CC). Three-dimensional (3D) porous PANI nanofiber networks are firstly uniformly anchored on CC by in-situ oxidative polymerization, followed by growth of NiCo-LDH nanoflakes on the crosslinked PANI framework via electrochemical deposition. The morphology and electrochemical properties of PANI/NiCo-LDH composites are controlled by the deposition time of LDH. Benefiting from rapid electron transport and ion diffusion, the well-defined PANI/NiCo-LDH hierarchical composite with 200 s deposition of LDH delivers a large capacitance of 1845 F g⁻¹ at 0.5 A g⁻¹ and excellent cycling stability of 82% capacitance retention after 5000 cycles at a very high current density of 10.0 A g⁻¹. Furthermore, an asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) assembled with PANI/NiCo-LDH as a positive electrode and activated carbon (AC) as a negative electrode exhibits a high capacitance of 147.2 F g⁻¹ in a potential range from 0 to 1.5 V and superior energy density of 46.0 Wh kg⁻¹ at a power density of 351.6 W kg⁻¹.

In this study, cellulose was carbonized in two-steps using hydrothermal and thermal carbonization in sequence, leading to a novel carbonaceous material prepared from a renewable source using a sustainable method without any chemicals and, moreover, giving high yields after a treatment at 600 °C in an inert atmosphere. During this treatment, cellulose was transformed to uniform microspheres with increased specific surface area and, more importantly, conductivity increased by about 7 orders of magnitude. The successful transition of cellulose to conducting carbonaceous microspheres was confirmed through SEM, FTIR, X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. Prepared samples were further used as a dispersed phase in electrorheological fluids, exhibiting outstanding electrorheological effects with yield stress over 100 Pa at an electric field strength 1.5 kV mm⁻¹ and a particle concentration of only 5 wt%, significantly overcoming recent state-of-the-art findings. Impedance spectroscopy analysis showed clear interfacial polarization of this ER fluid with high dielectric relaxation strength and short relaxation time, which corresponded to increased conductivity of the particles when compared to pure cellulose. These novel carbonaceous particles prepared from renewable cellulose have further potential to be utilized in many other applications that demand conducting carbonaceous structures with high specific surface area (adsorption, catalyst, filtration, energy storage).