The limited resources and uneven distribution of lithium stimulate strong motivation to develop new rechargeable batteries that use alternative charge carriers. Potassium-ion batteries (PIBs) are at the top of the list of alternatives because of the abundant raw materials and relatively high energy density, fast ion transport kinetics in the electrolyte, and low cost. However, several challenges still hinder the development of PIBs, such as low reversible capacity, poor rate performance, and inferior cycling stability. Research on the cathode is currently focused on developing materials with high energy density and cycling stability, mainly including layered transition metal oxides, polyanion compounds, organic compounds, etc. Anodes based on intercalation reactions, conversion reactions, and alloying with potassium are currently under development, and promising results have been published. This review comprehensively summarizes the research effort to date on the electrode material optimization (e.g., crystals, morphology, reaction mechanisms, and interface control), the synthesis methods, and the full cell fabrication for PIBs to enhance the electrochemical potassium storage and provide a platform for further development in this battery system.

Silver vanadates are promising visible-light-responded photocatalysts with suitable bandgap for solar absorption. However, the easy recombination of photogenerated carriers limits their performance. To overcome this obstacle, a novel 2D graphene oxide (GO) modified α-AgVO₃ nanorods (GO/α-AgVO₃) photocatalyst was designed herein to improve the separation of photocarriers. The GO/α-AgVO₃ was fabricated through a facile in-situ coprecipitation method at room temperature. It was found that the as-prepared 0.5 wt% GO/α-AgVO₃ exhibited the most excellent performance for rhodamine B (RhB) decomposition, with an apparent reaction rate constant 18 times higher than that of pure α-AgVO₃ under visible-light irradiation. In light of the first-principles calculations and the hetero junction analysis, the mechanism underpinned the enhanced photocatalytic performance was proposed. The enhanced photocatalytic performance was ascribed to the appropriate bandgap of α-AgVO₃ nanorods for visible-light response and efficient separation of photocarriers through GO nanosheets. This work demonstrates the feasibility of overcoming the easy recombination of photogenerated carriers and provides a valuable GO/α-AgVO₃ photocatalyst for pollutant degradation.

Metal‐based nanocatalysts supported on carbon have significant prospect for industry. However, a straightforward method for efficient and stable nanocatalysts still remains extremely challenging. Inspired by the structure and comptosition of cell walls and membranes, an ion chemical bond anchoring, an in situ carbonization coreduction process, is designed to obtain composite catalysts on N‐doped 2D carbon (C‐N) loaded with various noble and non‐noble metals (for example, Pt, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Ir, Au, Co, and Ni) nanocatalysts. These 2 nm particles uniformly and stably bond with the C‐N support since the agglomeration and growth are suppressed by anchoring the metal ions on the cell wall and membrane during the carbonization and reduction reactions. The Pt@C‐N exhibits excellent catalytic activity and long‐term stability for the hydrogen evolution reaction, and the relative overpotential at 100 mA cm⁻² is only 77 mV, which is much lower than that of commercial Pt/C and Pt single‐atom catalysts reported recently.