Robust and Corrosion-Resistant Overall Water Splitting Electrode Enabled by Additive Manufacturing.

Electrolysis of water has emerged as a prominent area of research in recent years. As a promising catalyst support, copper foam is widely investigated for electrolytic water, yet the insufficient mechanical strength and corrosion resistance render it less suitable for harsh working conditions. To exploit high-performance catalyst supports, various metal supports are comprehensively evaluated, and TiAlV (Ti64) support exhibited outstanding compression and corrosion resistance.

Ultrathick GeP Anode To Balance the Extreme Load and Compliance for High Areal Capacity Flexible Sodium-Ion Batteries.

The ever-growing application of miniaturized electric devices calls for the manufacturing of energy storage systems with a high areal energy density. Thick electrode design is a promising strategy to acquire high areal energy density by enhancing active mass loading and minimizing inactive components. However, the sluggish reaction kinetics and poor electrode mechanical stability that are accompanied by the increased electrode thickness remain unsolved problems.

High-Capacity Sb/FeS Sodium-Ion Battery Anodes Fabricated by a One-Step Redox Reaction, Followed by Ball Milling with Graphite.

Antimony (Sb) has been considered a promising anode for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) owing to its high theoretical capacity (660 mA h g) and low redox voltage (0.2-0.9 V vs Na/Na).

Polycrystalline Fe- and Sn-based sulfides for high-capacity sodium-ion battery anodes.

Nano-polycrystalline SnS/SnS/FeS/FeS sulfides anchored on graphene were synthesized annealing SnS and Fe followed by homogeneously combining them with exfoliated graphite. When applied as an anode for a sodium-ion battery, the reversible capacity reached 863 mA h g at 100 mA g. This facial materials synthesis method may be applied in various fields.

Manageable Bubble Release Through 3D Printed Microcapillary for Highly Efficient Overall Water Splitting.

Porous metal foams (e.g., Ni/Cu/Ti) are applied as catalyst supports extensively for water splitting due to their large specific area and excellent conductivity, however, intrinsic bubble congestion is unavoidable because of the irregular three-dimensional (3D) networks, resulting in high polarization and degraded electrocatalytic performances.

3D Printing of Multiscale Ti64-Based Lattice Electrocatalysts for Robust Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

Electrically assisted water splitting is an endurable strategy for hydrogen production, but the sluggish kinetics of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) extremely restrict the large-scale production of hydrogen. Developing highly efficient and non-precious catalytic materials is essential to accelerate the sluggish kinetics of OER. However, currently used catalyst supports, such as copper foam, suffer from inferior corrosion resistance and structural stability, resulting in the disabled functionality of 3D conductive networks.

In-Situ Templating Growth of Homeostatic GeP Nano-Bar Corals with Fast Electron-Ion Transportation Pathways for High Performance Li-ion Batteries.

We propose an in situ template method to directionally induce the construction of germanium phosphide nanobar (GeP-nb) corals with an adjustable aspect ratio. The GeP nanobars grown onto conductive matrix with high aspect ratio expose more quickest electron-ion transportation facets for fast reaction dynamics. The customized GeP-nb electrode delivers a self-healable homeostatic behavior by reversibly stabilizing GeP crystalline structure through multi-phase reactions to maintain structural integrity and cycling stability (850 mAh g at 1 A g after 500 cycles).

Confining Nano-GeP in Nitrogenous Hollow Carbon Fibers toward Flexible and High-Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Although graphite has been used as anodes of lithium-ion batteries (LiBs) for 30 years, its unsatisfactory energy density makes it insufficient toward some new electronic products such as unmanned aerial vehicles. Herein, in situ synthesis of nano-GeP confined in nitrogen-doped carbon (GeP@NC) fibers was designed and performed via coaxial electrospinning followed by a phosphating process. This way ensured the paper-like GeP@NC- electrode with high conductivity, high flexibility, and lightweight properties, which simultaneously solved the key scientific problems of difficulty in structural design and severe volume expansion of GeP.

Nano Sn S Embedded in Nitrogenous-Carbon Compounds for Long-Life and High-Rate Cycling Sodium-Ion Batteries.

Metallic tin (Sn) compounds are viewed as promising candidates for sodium-ion batteries (SIB) anode materials yet suffer from large volume expansion and limited electrode kinetics. Manufacturing rational structure is a crucial factor to achieve high-efficiency sodium storage for SIBs. In this study, nano Sn S embedded in nitrogenous-carbon compounds (nano-Sn S /C) was designed for SIB anode materials via a facile three-step strategy: precipitation, heat treatment and vulcanization with no templating agent.

Nano-GeTe Embedded in a Three-Dimensional Carbon Sponge for Flexible Li-Ion and Na-Ion Battery Anodes.

Among the germanium-based compounds, GeTe is a promising anode candidate that exhibits high theoretical capacity (856 mAh g vs Li/Li and 401 mAh g vs Na/Na) and low volume expansion during an ion intercalation/deintercalation process. Nevertheless, achieving good dispersion of metal-like GeTe in anode materials remains a significant challenge. Herein, hybrid GeTe/graphene (GeTe/G) is proposed as a highly efficient anode for LiBs and SiBs by facile ball milling.

Tunable Hollow Nanoreactors for In Situ Synthesis of GeP Electrodes towards High-Performance Sodium Ion Batteries.

The practical application of germanium phosphide (GeP) in battery systems is seriously impeded referring to the sluggish reaction kinetics and severe volume change. Nanostructure design that elaborately resolves the above issues is highly desired but still remains a big challenge. Herein, unique hollow nanoreactors assembled with nitrogen-doped carbon networks for in situ synthesis of the GeP electrodes are proposed for the first time.

Core-shell (nano-SnX/nano-LiTiO)@C spheres (X = Se,Te) with high volumetric capacity and excellent cycle stability for lithium-ion batteries.

Among binary tin chalcogenides as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, SnSe and SnTe have attracted attention due to their high theoretical volumetric capacity. However, they suffer from sluggish dynamics and serious agglomeration during lithiation/delithiation processes, which leads to inferior cycling performance. This study reports core-shell structure (nano-SnSe/nano-LiTiO)@C and (nano-SnTe/nano-LiTiO)@C [denoted as (n-SnX/n-LTO)@C] with extraordinary lithium storage stability.