The urgent demand for clean energies and rapid development of modern electronic technologies have led to enthusiastic research on novel energy storage technologies, especially for supercapacitors.

The storage of solar energy in battery systems is pivotal for a sustainable society, which faces many challenges. Herein, a Zn–air battery is constructed with two cathodes of poly(1,4‐di(2‐thienyl))benzene (PDTB) and TiO2 grown on carbon papers to sandwich a Zn anode. The PDTB cathode is illuminated in a discharging process, in which photoelectrons are excited into the conduction band of PDTB to promote oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and raise the output voltage. In a reverse process, holes in the valence band of the illuminated TiO2 cathode are driven for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) by an applied voltage. A record‐high discharge voltage of 1.90 V and an unprecedented low charge voltage of 0.59 V are achieved in the photo‐involved Zn–air battery, regardless of the equilibrium voltage. This work offers an innovative pathway for photo‐energy utilization in rechargeable batteries.

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This review summarizes the recent findings regarding photoinvolved oxygen cathodes, battery configurations, and the stability of Li–O2 batteries, and aims to provide a fundamental understanding of photoinvolved Li–O2 batteries.

A novel sandwich-like composite with ultrathin CoAl-layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanoplates electrostatically assembled on both sides of two-dimensional polypyrrole/graphene (PG) substrate has been successfully fabricated using facile hydrothermal techniques. The PG not only serves as an excellent conductive and structural scaffold to enhance the transmission of electrons and prevent aggregation of CoAl-LDH nanoplates but also contributes to the enhancement of the specific capacitance. Owing to the homogeneous dispersion of CoAl-LDH nanoplates and its intimate interaction with PG substrate, the resulting CoAl-LDH/PG nanocomposite material exhibits excellent capacitive performance, for example, enhanced gravimetric specific capacitance (864 F g at 1 A g ), high rate performance (75% retention at 20 A g), and excellent cycle life (almost no degradation in supercapacitor performance after 5000 cycles) in aqueous KOH solution. Furthermore, the assembled asymmetric capacitor is able to deliver a superhigh energy density of 46.8 Wh kg at 1.2 kW kg and maintain 90.1% of its initial capacitance after 10 000 cycles. These results indicate a rational assembly strategy toward a high-performance pseudocapacitive electrode material with excellent rate performance, high specific capacitance, and outstanding cycle stability.

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The ORCID identification number(s) for the author(s) of this article can be found under https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201900022. Sodium-Ion BatteriesSodium-ion batteries (SIBs) are promising for large-scale electric energy storage due to the high abundance and wide distribution of sodium resources (Na, 2.74% in the Earth's crust). [1] Construction of full SIBs strongly relies on the selected cathodes, anodes, and their compatibility with electrolytes. [2] Although progress has been obtained in the separate individual cathode and anode, full SIBs with high performance, especially high power density, are still lacking. [3] This is closely related to the large-sized Na + (1.02 Å) as charge carriers shuttling between cathode and anode, which usually leads to sluggish kinetics and structural instability of electrode materials. [4] When operated below 0 °C outdoors for practical applications, the reaction and transport kinetics of SIBs becomes severely slow, [2,5] resulting in reduced capacity, efficiency, and power density. Therefore, realization of full SIBs with high power density and operation in a wide temperature range is faced with

Aprotic Na‐O2 batteries have attracted growing interest owing to their low overpotentials and high energy density. Their cycling stability and Coulombic efficiency are limited, however, by Na dendrite formation and superoxide (O2−) degradation. Here, we present a bifunctional cation additive, the tetrabutylammonium cation (TBA+), to simultaneously protect the Na anode and stabilize the superoxide. The adsorption of TBA+ on the Na anode suppresses the dendrite formation in the Na plating and ensures stable anode cycling at high current density in both Ar and oxygen atmospheres. Aprotic Na‐O2 batteries with TBA+ show increased Coulombic efficiency as well as good rate capability. These are rewarded by the fast desolvation kinetics of O2− and suppression of the disproportionation reaction of O2− with TBA+, as confirmed by molecular dynamics simulation and DFT calculations. This bifunctional effect of this cation additive paves a new avenue for the development of Na‐O2 batteries.