Low-Carbon and Nanosheathed ZnCoO Spheroids with Porous Architecture for Boosted Lithium Storage Properties.

Multielectronic reaction electrode materials for high energy density lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are severely hindered by their inherent sluggish kinetics and large volume variations, leading to rapid capacity fade. Here, a simple method is developed to construct low-carbon and nanosheathed ZnCoO porous spheroids (ZCO@C-5). In this micro/nanostructure, an ultrathin amorphous carbon layer (~2 nm in thickness) is distributed all over the primary nanosized ZCO particles (~20 nm in diameter), which finally self-assembles into porous core (ZCO)-shell(carbon) micron spheroids.

Lithium Borate Containing Bifunctional Binder To Address Both Ion Transporting and Polysulfide Trapping for High-Performance Li-S Batteries.

A slightly cross-linked lithium borate containing single ion-conducting polymer (LBSIP) as a bifunctional binder for lithium sulfur batteries is designed and fabricated via a one-step thiol-ene click reaction. The LBSIP binder exhibits a maximum peeling strength of over 600 mN mm between the sulfur cathode and aluminum foil, together showing a high lithium ion diffusion coefficient of 2.1 × 10 cm s.

Design and synthesis of hollow NiCo2O4 nanoboxes as anodes for lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries.

Hollow porous NiCo2O4-nanoboxes (NCO-NBs) were synthesized with zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67) nanocrystals as the template followed by a subsequent annealing treatment. The structure and morphology of the NCO-NBs were characterized using X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. When tested as potential anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, these porous NCO-NBs with a well-defined hollow structure manifested enhanced performance of Li storage.