VEDesc: vertex-edge constraint on local learned descriptors.

To improve the performance of local learned descriptors, many researchers pay primary attention to the triplet loss network. As expected, it is useful to achieve state-of-the-art performance on various datasets. However, these local learned descriptors suffer from the inconsistency problem without considering the relationship between two descriptors in a patch.

Engineering Hierarchical Co@N-Doped Carbon Nanotubes/α-Ni(OH) Heterostructures on Carbon Cloth Enabling High-Performance Aqueous Nickel-Zinc Batteries.

Searching for high-performance Ni-based cathodes plays an important role in developing better aqueous nickel-zinc (Ni-Zn) batteries. For this purpose, herein, we demonstrate the design and synthesis of ultrathin α-Ni(OH) nanosheets branched onto metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)-derived 3D cross-linked N-doped carbon nanotubes encapsulated with tiny Co nanoparticles (denoted as Co@NCNTs/α-Ni(OH)), which are directly supported on a flexible carbon cloth (CC). An aqueous Ni-Zn battery employing the hierarchical CC/Co@NCNTs/α-Ni(OH) as the binder-free cathode and a commercial Zn plate as the anode is fabricated, which displays an ultrahigh capacity (316 mAh g) and energy density (540.

Hierarchical Nanoreactor with Multiple Adsorption and Catalytic Sites for Robust Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

Developing high-performance cathode host materials is fundamental to solve the low utilization of sulfur, the sluggish redox kinetics, and the lithium polysulfide (LiPS) shuttle effect in lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs). Here, a multifunctional Ag/VN@Co/NCNT nanocomposite with multiple adsorption and catalytic sites within hierarchical nanoreactors is reported as a robust sulfur host for LSB cathodes. In this hierarchical nanoreactor, heterostructured Ag/VN nanorods serve as a highly conductive backbone structure and provide internal catalytic and adsorption sites for LiPS conversion.

A lightweight and low-cost electrode for lithium-ion batteries derived from paper towel supported MOF arrays.

Herein, Cu-doped Co-ZIF nanoplate arrays are uniformly grown on a commercial paper towel substrate first. After a subsequent annealing treatment, well-defined Cu-doped Co/CoO nanoparticles embedded in N-doped carbon hybrid nanoplate arrays supported on the carbon paper substrate (denoted as Cu-doped Co/CoO/NC NPAs@CP) are obtained, which exhibit excellent performance as a low-cost, lightweight and binder-free anode for lithium ion storage.