We, for the first time, successfully grafted well-aligned binary lithium-reactive zinc phosphide (Zn₃P₂) nanowire arrays on carbon fabric cloth by a facile CVD method. When applied as a novel self-supported binder-free anode for lithium ion batteries (LIBs), the hierarchical three-dimensional (3D) integrated anode shows excellent electrochemical performances: a highly reversible initial lithium storage capacity of ca. 1200 mA h g⁻¹ with a coulombic efficiency of up to 88%, a long lifespan of over 200 cycles without obvious decay, and a high rate capability of ca. 400 mA h g⁻¹ capacity retention at an ultrahigh rate of 15 A g⁻¹. More interestingly, a flexible LIB full cell is assembled based on the as-synthesized integrated anode and the commercial LiFePO₄ cathode, and shows striking lithium storage performances very close to the half cells: a large reversible capacity over 1000 mA h g⁻¹, a long cycle life of over 200 cycles without obvious decay, and an ultrahigh rate performance of ca. 300 mA h g⁻¹ even at 20 A g⁻¹. Considering the excellent lithium storage performances of coin-type half cells as well as flexible full cells, the as-prepared carbon cloth grafted well-aligned Zn₃P₂ nanowire arrays would be a promising integrated anode for flexible LIB full cell devices.

The recent development of SMART supercapacitors with stretchability, compressibility, healability and shape-memory function is summarized.

Vanadium nitrides (VN) have drawn much attention due to their large negative potential window, high electronic conductivity and fast reversible redox reaction. The electrochemical performances of VN are affected by their morphology and specific surface area, which depend deeply on the synthesis method. Herein, a large-sized nanoflake V₂O₅ xerogel is synthesized by a hydrothermal method followed by freeze drying, and then the nanoflake V₂O₅ xerogel is thermally treated for various times under NH₃ atmosphere to study the nitriding process. The results show that the nanoflake V₂O₅ xerogel is reduced to nanoflake V₂O₃ before being completely transformed into nanoflake VN. The nanoflake VN demonstrate superior capacitive performance than the nanoflake V₂O₅ xerogel and intermediate V₂O₃, which arises from higher intrinsic conductivity.