Commonly, commercially available carbon foam derived from polymers shows brittle characteristics. In this paper, the concept of preparing an elastic carbon foam via the direct carbonization of a polymer foam is presented. A novel carbon foam with a 3D elastic interconnected network was prepared by the direct carbonization of melamine foam. The as-prepared carbon foam exhibited characteristics including excellent elasticity, extremely high porosity of over 99.6%, being lightweight with a density of 5 mg cm⁻³, a high specific surface area, tailored electrical conductivity, super-hydrophobicity and excellent absorptive properties towards oil and organic solvents. Two example applications as flexible electrodes and as an organic chemical absorbent have been demonstrated. For use as an electrode in supercapacitors, it could exhibit a specific capacitance of more than 250 F g⁻¹ in 1 M H₂SO₄ at a charge/discharge current density of 0.5 A g⁻¹. For use as an absorbent, it was able to absorb 148 to 411 times its own weight of organic solvents depending on the density of the solvents.

Strong and tough fibers: Dragline spider silk is known for its combination of strength and toughness, but this combination has been hard to replicate in synthetic fibers. Liao et al. electrospun polyacrylonitrile- co -methyl acrylate fibers modified with a small amount of poly(ethylene glycol) bisazide (PEG-BA) (see the Perspective by Fox). After collecting the electrospun yarn, it was annealed under tension that both aligned the small fibers and cross-linked them together via the PEG-BA. As hoped, the overall properties were comparable to those of spider silk. Science , this issue p. 1376 ; see also p. 1314

The future success of microbial bioelectrochemical systems like microbial fuel cells inevitably depends on the increase of their performance at decreasing material costs. One of the key elements and a research priority is the biofuel cell anode. Here we propose layered corrugated carbon (LCC) as an inexpensive but high performance electrode material produced from the carbonization of one of the most abundant packing materials of our society: corrugated cardboard. In the base configuration of one corrugated layer the projected current density of LCC already reaches 70 A m⁻². Increasing the number of corrugated layers increases the current density linearly. Thus, 200 A m⁻² are achieved at three and 390 A m⁻² at six corrugated layers. These current density values, which were confirmed by experiments in two independent laboratories, represent a performance increase of above one order of magnitude compared to the current state of research.

Organic carbonyl compounds have achieved great success as prospective electrodes for rechargeable metal-ion batteries for the replacement of commercial inorganic electrodes, since the extensive chemistry of organics allows to vary the structure in an eco-friendly manner to tune electrochemical properties. However, the ease of dissolution in electrolyte, intrinsically poor electronic conductivity, and low volumetric energy density greatly restrict their long-term cyclability and rate capability, impeding their widespread usage, especially for practical battery systems. Considering this, a great number of molecular engineering strategies have been proposed to overcome the above obstacles. In this review, we have summarized several commonly used molecular engineering approaches to reinforce the electrochemical performance of carbonyl organic compounds and simultaneously generalized the advantages and disadvantages of each strategy. Some recent key investigations on the reaction mechanism of carbonyl organic electrodes by using operando and ex situ techniques as well as theoretical calculations have also been highlighted. More importantly, different from most of the previous reviews focused on materials design, some critical challenges and future perspectives of carbonyl organic electrodes for practical battery systems have been evaluated in more depth. Therefore, this review will offer fundamental and useful guidance not only for the rational design of carbonyl electrodes but also for practical carbonyl-based battery systems applicable in the foreseeable future.