Anatase TiO(2) nanotube (TiNT) arrays have been fabricated on a p-type boron-doped diamond substrate by a liquid phase deposition method using a ZnO nanorod template. The n-type TiNT/p-type diamond heterojunction structures which are realized show significantly enhanced photocatalytic activities with good recyclable behavior, with respect to the cases of sole TiNTs.
Stabilizing Li‐rich layered oxides without capacity/voltage fade upon cycling is a prerequisite for a successful commercialization. Although the inhibition of structural and interfacial changes is identified as an effective strategy, the battery community always seeks for a technologically flexible method to make it really competitive among the cathode. Herein, the gradient W‐doping within Li1.2Mn0.56Ni0.16Co0.08O2 (LLMO) is proposed to relieve crystal disintegration and simultaneously enhance interfacial stability because of the formation of Li2WO4 coating layer on the material surface. This is mainly attributed to the scenario that partial Mn replacement by W can stabilize the LLMO structure and regulate the electrochemical activity of Mn element. The W‐doped LLMO (W@LLMO) possesses improved specific capacity and voltage stability (83.2% capacity retention and voltage retention of 94.9% after 200 cycles at 0.5 C). Besides, a practical pouch cell based on the W@LLMO cathode presents sufficient gravimetric energy density (318 Wh kg−1) and cycling stability (capacity retention of 87.7% after 500 cycles at 1.0 C). This study presents an effective method to design robust Li‐rich layered cathodes for next‐generation Li‐ion batteries.
Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries have been considered as one of the most promising electrochemical energy storage systems because of their high energy density. However, a series of issues severely limit the practical performances of Li–S batteries such as low conductivity, significant volume change, and shuttle effect. The hollow carbon spheres with huge voids and high electrical conductivity are promising as sulfur hosts. Unfortunately, the nonpolar nature of carbon materials cannot prevent the shuttle effect effectively. In this case, the atomic cobalt is introduced to a nitrogen‐doped hollow carbon sphere (ACo@HCS) through polymerization and controlled pyrolysis. The atomic cobalt dopants not only act as active sites to restrict the shuttle effect, but also can promote the kinetics of the sulfur redox reactions. ACo@HCS acting as sulfur host exhibits a high discharge capacity (1003 mAh g−1) at a 1.0 C rate after 500 cycles, and the corresponding decay rate is as low as 0.002% per cycle. This exciting work paves a new way to design high‐performance Li–S batteries.
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