Highly polarized lithium phosphides (LiPR 2) were synthesized, for the first time, in deep eutectic solvents as sustainable reaction media, at room temperature and in the absence of protecting atmosphere, through direct deprotonation of both aliphatic and aromatic secondary phosphines (HPR 2) by n-BuLi. The subsequent addition of in-situ generated LiPR 2 to aldehydes or epoxides proceeded quickly and chemoselectively, thereby allowing the straightforward access to the corresponding αor β-hydroxy phosphine oxides, respectively, under air and at room temperature (bench conditions), which are traditionally considered as textbook-prohibited conditions in the field of polar organometallic chemistry of s-block elements.

Augmented reality (AR) is a mixed technology that superimposes three-dimensional (3D) digital data onto an image of reality. This technology enables users to represent and manipulate 3D chemical structures. In spite of its potential, the use of these tools in chemistry is still scarce. The aim of this work is to identify the real situation of AR developments and its potential for 3D visualization of molecules. A descriptive analysis of a selection of 143 research publications (extracted from Web of Science between 2018 and 2020) highlights some significant AR examples that had been implemented in chemistry, in both education and research environments. Although the traditional 2D screen visualization is still preferred when teaching chemistry, the application of AR in early education has shown potential to facilitate the understanding and visualization of chemical structures. The increasing connectivity of the AR technology to web platforms and scientific networks should translate into new opportunities for teaching and learning strategies.

Atomic/molecular visualization for human sight is usually generated by a software that reproduces a 3D reality on a 2D screen. Although Virtual Reality (VR) software was originally developed for the...

An eco-friendly and sustainable salt-templating approach was proposed for the production of anode materials with a 3D sponge-like structure for sodium-ion capacitors using gluconic acid as carbon precursor and sodium carbonate as waterremovable template. The optimized carbon material combined porous thin walls that provided short diffusional paths, a highly disordered microstructure with dilated interlayer spacing, and a large oxygen content, all of which facilitated Na ion transport and provided plenty of active sites for Na adsorption. This material provided a capacity of 314 mAh g À 1 at 0.1 A g À 1 and 130 mAh g À 1 at 10 A g À 1 . When combined with a 3D highly porous carbon cathode (S BET � 2300 m 2 g À 1 ) synthesized from the same precursor, the Na-ion capacitor showed high specific energy/power, that is 110 Wh kg À 1 at low power and still 71 Wh kg À 1 at approximately 26 kW kg À 1 , and a good capacity retention of 70 % over 10000 cycles.

Invited for this month's cover picture is the group of Dr. Noel Díez. The Front Cover illustrates the use of monodisperse, highly porous carbon nanoparticles derived from polypyrrole as the electrode material in high power supercapacitors. The highly porous nanoparticles were employed to construct supercapacitors with practical mass loadings that showed a fast response in different types of electrolyte systems. Read the full text of the Article at 10.1002/batt.202100169.

Highly porous carbon nanoparticles are very suitable materials for supercapacitor electrodes due to their combination of large surface area for ion adsorption and short pathways for fast ion diffusion. Herein we describe the synthesis of highly porous carbon nanospheres (d=90 nm) by a simple strategy that involves the preparation of monodisperse nanoparticles by the oxidative polymerization of pyrrole, followed by their direct chemical activation with KHCO3. The morphology of the nanospheres is well retained after activation, and the inorganic impurities are removed by a simple washing step with water. The porous nanospheres possess a high electrical conductivity and specific surface areas exceeding 3000 m2 g−1 due to their high content of micropores and small mesopores (<4 nm). Their highly developed and readily available porosity make these materials promising for use as supercapacitor electrodes. In the aqueous 1 M H2SO4 electrolyte, the porous nanospheres reach a capacitance of 262 F g−1 and withstand an ultrahigh current density of 80 A g−1 maintaining a capacitance above 100 F g−1. In the organic 1 M TEABF4/AN and EMImTFSI/AN electrolytes, the nanoparticles reach 175 and 155 F g−1, and the supercapacitors could be cycled up to 50 A g−1 delivering 30 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 20 kW kg−1 and 31 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 31 kW kg−1, respectively. These results demonstrate the potential of these nanoparticles for energy storage applications.

No abstract

The Front Cover illustrates the use of monodisperse, highly porous carbon nanoparticles derived from polypyrrole as the electrode material in high‐power supercapacitors. The cells, constructed using practical mass loadings, showed a fast response in different electrolyte systems. More information can be found in the Article by N. Díez and co‐workers.