Lithium titanate and titanium dioxide are two best-known high-performance electrodes that can cycle around 10,000 times in aprotic lithium ion electrolytes. Here we show there exists more lithium titanate hydrates with superfast and stable cycling. That is, water promotes structural diversity and nanostructuring of compounds, but does not necessarily degrade electrochemical cycling stability or performance in aprotic electrolytes. As a lithium ion battery anode, our multi-phase lithium titanate hydrates show a specific capacity of about 130 mA h g⁻¹ at ~35 C (fully charged within ~100 s) and sustain more than 10,000 cycles with capacity fade of only 0.001% per cycle. In situ synchrotron diffraction reveals no 2-phase transformations, but a single solid-solution behavior during battery cycling. So instead of just a nanostructured intermediate to be calcined, lithium titanate hydrates can be the desirable final destination.

Studying on the anode materials with high energy densities for next-generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is the key for the wide application for electrochemical energy storage devices. Ti-based compounds as promising anode materials are known for their outstanding high-rate capacity and cycling stability as well as improved safety over graphite. However, Ti-based materials still suffer from the low capacity, thus largely limiting their commercialized application. Here, we present an overview of the recent development of Ti-based anode materials in LIBs, and special emphasis is placed on capacity enhancement by rational design of hybrid nanocomposites with conversion-/ alloying-type anodes. This review is expected to provide a guidance for designing novel Ti-based materials for energy storage and conversion.

Lithium–sulfur batteries are one of the most promising next-generation batteries due to their high theoretical specific capacity, but are impeded by the low utilization of insulating sulfur, unstable morphology of the lithium metal anode, and transport of soluble polysulfides. Here, by coating a layer of nano titanium dioxide and carbon black onto a commercial polypropylene separator, we demonstrate a new composite separator that can confine the polysulfides on the cathode side, forming a catholyte chamber, and at the same time block the dendritic lithium on the anode side. Lithium–sulfur batteries using this separator show a high initial capacity of 1206 mA h g⁻¹ and a low capacity decay rate of 0.1% per cycle at 0.5C. Analyses reveal the electrocatalytic effect and the excellent dendrite-blocking capability of the ∼7 µm thick coating.

Developing efficient metal-free luminescent materials is a challenging topic because their quantum yields are usually quite low. Here, for the first time, we report a new metal-free blue-emitting melem with a high quantum yield of 56.9%. Rod-like structured melem was synthesized by treating a bulk melem with nitric acid and ethylene glycol. The quantum yield of the rod-like melem (56.9%) is about 1.6 times higher than that of the ordinary melem (35.2%) and is substantially higher than that of bulk g-C₃N₄ (4.8%), a well-known metal-free blue emission material. This promising blue phosphor, which is easy to synthesize, abundant on earth and contains no metal elements, has great potential for practical applications.

There is an ever‐increasing demand for rechargeable batteries with fast charging, long cycling, high safety, and low cost in new energy storage systems. Herein, a heterogeneous architecture composed of MoS₂‐coupled carbon nanosheets encapsulated on sodium titanate nanowires is developed and demonstrated as an advanced anode for sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs). Owing to the synergistic effects of ultrastable substrate of 1D sodium titanate (NTO) nanowires, high‐capacity promoter of 2D MoS₂ nanosheets as well as the 2D conductive carbon matrix, the resulting 1D/2D–2D hybrid demonstrates excellent high‐rate capacity and super‐durable cyclability, delivering a stable capacity of up to 425.5 mAh g⁻¹ at 200 mA g⁻¹. Even at an ultrafast charging/discharging process within 80 s, the capacity can be maintained at 201 mAh g⁻¹ after 16 000 cycles with only 0.0012% capacity loss per cycle, one of the best high‐rate capacities and cyclabilities for NTO‐based hybrid composites. The present work highlights the designing protocol of hierarchical nanoarchitectures with stable substrate and high‐capacity electrodes for next‐generation energy storage applications.