ZnO-loaded/porous carbon (PC) composites with different ZnO loading amounts are first synthesized via a facile solvothermal method and evaluated for anode materials of lithium ion batteries. The architecture and the electrochemical performance of the as-prepared composites are investigated through structure characterization and galvanostatic charge/discharge test. The ZnO-loaded/PC composites possess a rich porous structure with well-distributed ZnO particles (size range: 30-100 nm) in the PC host. The one with 54 wt % ZnO loading contents exhibits a high reversible capacity of 653.7 mA h g(-1) after 100 cycles. In particular, a capacity of 496.8 mA h g(-1) can be reversibly obtained when cycled at 1000 mA g(-1). The superior lithium storage properties of the composite may be attributed to its nanoporous structure together with an interconnected network. The modified interfacial reaction kinetics of the composite promotes the intercalation/deintercalation of lithium ions and the charge transfer on the electrode. As a result, the enhanced capacity of the composite electrode is achieved, as well as its high rate capability.

The development of safe, stable, and long-life Li-ion batteries is being intensively pursued to enable the electrification of transportation and intelligent grid applications. Here, we report a new solid-state Li-ion battery technology, using a solid nanocomposite electrolyte composed of porous silica matrices with in situ immobilizing Li(+)-conducting ionic liquid, anode material of MCMB, and cathode material of LiCoO2, LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2, or LiFePO4. An injection printing method is used for the electrode/electrolyte preparation. Solid nanocomposite electrolytes exhibit superior performance to the conventional organic electrolytes with regard to safety and cycle-life. They also have a transparent glassy structure with high ionic conductivity and good mechanical strength. Solid-state full cells tested with the various cathodes exhibited high specific capacities, long cycling stability, and excellent high temperature performance. This solid-state battery technology will provide new avenues for the rational engineering of advanced Li-ion batteries and other electrochemical devices.

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Iridium/iridium oxide pH sensors were fabricated by cyclic isothermal heating and water quenching with cycle number equals to one, two and three, respectively. Examining of Nernst response range, pH response rate, and long term stability of the electrodes, etc. suggested that the three-time-oxidized electrodes appeared to show the best integrated performance. Several approaches were adopted to explore the essence of above phenomena. Morphology and composition investigations indicate a two-layer structure of the surface oxide film, i.e., dense inner layer and porous outer layer, with oxygen concentration decreases gradually from surface to iridium substrate. Raman spectroscopy implies good crystal quality of the fabricated iridium oxide after hydration. XPS illustrates that effective compositions of the electrode surface are IrO 2 and Ir(OH) 4 . EIS of the IrO x electrodes were investigated in pH buffers to analyze their pH response mechanism. Combining cross section observation and EIS results, the good performance of the three-time-oxidized electrode is attributed to the thicker porous outer layer showing more effective hydration, larger active surface area, and smaller reaction resistance in pH detection.Hydration does not show apparent influence on pH sensitivity of the fabricated electrodes. However, a sufficient hydration is benefit for reducing the potential shift in long term application.pH is a so important parameter for daily life and industries that the fast and precise detection of pH value is of great importance. The most widely used pH sensor is the glass electrode. However, due to the intrinsic nature of the glass membrane, its drawbacks are apparent, such as high input impedance, easily broken, inadaptable to HF solutions, etc. Furthermore, it is difficult to be miniaturized, which withhold their application in micro-environment and on-line detection in vivo. Therefore, many efforts have been made to develop other kinds of pH sensors, as well as clarify the pH response mechanism of them. 1-6 Among which, metal/metal oxide pH electrodes were defined as the best choice due to their obvious advantages in fabrication, miniaturization, maintenance, cost, as well as their optimum performance in pH response. Metal/metal oxide sensors can even be adopted to detect the pH value in severe environment such as high temperature, high pressure systems and HF solutions.Many metal/metal oxide electrodes have been studied, such as SbPb oxide, Sb electrodes, etc. 6-9 In a synthetic evaluation, by comparing their sensitivity, Nernst response range, ion selectivity, interference of oxidation and reduction, and potential drift, the iridium oxide (IrO x ) electrode was suggested to be the most promising one for pH detection. 1,2The performance of IrO x pH electrode differs with its fabrication method. Up to now, the main approaches for fabricating IrO x electrode include electrochemical cyclic voltammetry (CV), 2,4-6 electrodeposition, radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering deposition, 10,11 high temperature carbonat...