A garnet-type solid-state electrolyte Li _6.4 La ₃ Zr _1.4 Ta _0.6 O ₁₂ (LLZTO) was modified using dopamine to improve the wettability of LLZTO with PEO, allowing 80 wt% LLZTO to be uniformly dispersed in 20 wt% PEO/LiTFSI polymer electrolyte.

Alloy-type anodes such as silicon and tin are gaining popularity in rechargeable Li-ion batteries, but their rate/cycling capabilities should be improved. Here by making yolk-shell nanocomposite of aluminium core (30 nm in diameter) and TiO₂ shell (∼3 nm in thickness), with a tunable interspace, we achieve 10 C charge/discharge rate with reversible capacity exceeding 650 mAh g⁻¹ after 500 cycles, with a 3 mg cm⁻² loading. At 1 C, the capacity is approximately 1,200 mAh g⁻¹ after 500 cycles. Our one-pot synthesis route is simple and industrially scalable. This result may reverse the lagging status of aluminium among high-theoretical-capacity anodes.

Supported metal catalysts play a crucial role in the modern industry. Constructing strong metal-support interactions (SMSI) is an effective means of regulating the interfacial properties of noble metal-based supported catalysts. Here, we propose a new strategy of ultrafast laser-induced SMSI that can be constructed on a CeO₂-supported Pt system by confining electric field in localized interface. The nanoconfined field essentially boosts the formation of surface defects and metastable CeO_x migration. The SMSI is evidenced by covering Pt nanoparticles with the CeO_x thin overlayer and suppression of CO adsorption. The overlayer is permeable to the reactant molecules. Owing to the SMSI, the resulting Pt/CeO₂ catalyst exhibits enhanced activity and stability for CO oxidation. This strategy of constructing SMSI can be extended not only to other noble metal systems (such as Au/TiO₂, Pd/TiO₂, and Pt/TiO₂) but also on non-reducible oxide supports (such as Pt/Al₂O₃, Au/MgO, and Pt/SiO₂), providing a universal way to engineer and develop high-performance supported noble metal catalysts.

Transition metal sulfides with nanoporous structures draw widespread interest in various applications, such as energy storage and solar cells, owing to their unique features and intriguing properties. However, research on manganese cobalt sulfide composites is very limited even though they are promising candidates for supercapacitor electrodes. Herein we design a manganese cobalt sulfide with a pinecone-like and hierarchical porous nanosphere structure, namely pinecone-like and hierarchical manganese cobalt sulfide (PHMCS). The MnS and CoS nanospheres are synthesized individually, and they possess specific capacitances of 119 F g⁻¹ and 632 F g⁻¹ at a current density of 1 A g⁻¹, respectively. The physical mixture of MnS and CoS (MIX) only shows 193 F g⁻¹ at 1 A g⁻¹ which may be attributed to the unconsolidated connection between two independent sulfides. In order to improve the electrochemical performance of manganese and cobalt sulfides, PHMCS is produced with a specific capacitance of 992 F g⁻¹ and 102.35% retention after 5500 cycles at 10 A g⁻¹. The synergistic effect between the hierarchical CoS and pinecone-like MnS nanospheres contributes to the improved specific capacitance. The unique porous structures of PHMCS create sufficient space for electrode materials to expand and shrink when reacting with ions from the electrolyte, which turns PHMCS into an extremely durable material for supercapacitor electrodes.