Solid-state batteries with desirable advantages, including high-energy density, wide temperature tolerance, and fewer safety-concerns, have been considered as a promising energy storage technology to replace organic liquid electrolyte-dominated Li-ion batteries. Solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) as the most critical component in solid-state batteries largely lead the future battery development. Among different types of solid-state electrolytes, garnet-type Li7La3Zr2O12 (LLZO) solid-state electrolytes have particularly high ionic conductivity (10–3 to 10–4 S/cm) and good chemical stability against Li metal, offering a great opportunity for solid-state Li-metal batteries. Since the discovery of garnet-type LLZO in 2007, there has been an increasing interest in the development of garnet-type solid-state electrolytes and all solid-state batteries. Garnet-type electrolyte has been considered one of the most promising and important solid-state electrolytes for batteries with potential benefits in energy density, electrochemical stability, high temperature stability, and safety. In this Review, we will survey recent development of garnet-type LLZO electrolytes with discussions of experimental studies and theoretical results in parallel, LLZO electrolyte synthesis strategies and modifications, stability of garnet solid electrolytes/electrodes, emerging nanostructure designs, degradation mechanisms and mitigations, and battery architectures and integrations. We will also provide a target-oriented research overview of garnet-type LLZO electrolyte and its application in various types of solid-state battery concepts (e.g., Li-ion, Li–S, and Li–air), and we will show opportunities and perspectives as guides for future development of solid electrolytes and solid-state batteries.

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Hollow structures exhibit fascinating and important properties for energy-related applications, such as lithium-ion batteries, supercapacitors, and electrocatalysts. Sodium-ion batteries, as analogs of lithium-ion batteries, are considered as promising devices for large-scale electrical energy storage. Inspired by applications of hollow structures as anodes for lithium-ion batteries, the application of these structures in sodium-ion batteries has attracted great attention in recent years. However, due to the difference in lithium and sodium-ion batteries, there are several issues that need to be addressed toward rational design of hollow structured sodium anodes. Herein, this research news article presents the recent developments in the synthesis of hollow structured anodes for sodium-ion batteries. The main strategies for rational design of materials for sodium-ion batteries are presented to provide an overview and perspectives for the future developments of this research area.

Graphene oxide‐wrapped amorphous copper vanadium oxide is fabricated through a template‐engaged redox reaction followed by vacuum dehydration. This material exhibits high reversible capacity, excellent rate capability, and out standing high‐rate cyclability. The outstanding performance is attributed to the fast capacitive charge storage and the in situ formed copper with enhanced electrical conductivity.

A novel covalently modified glassy carbon electrode with glutamic acid has been fabricated via an electrochemical oxidation procedure and was applied to the catalytic oxidation of uric acid (UA) and ascorbic acid (AA), reducing the overpotentials by about 0.2 V and 0.3 V, respectively. Based on its strong catalytic function toward the oxidation of UA and AA, the modified electrode resolved the overlapping voltammetric response of UA and AA into two well-defined voltammetric peaks with both cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), which can be used for the simultaneous determination of these species in a mixture. The catalytic peak current obtained from DPV was linearly dependent on the UA and AA concentration in the range 2 x 10(-6)-4 x 10(-4) mol L-1 and 1.0 x 10(-6)-4 x 10(-4) mol L-1 with correlation coefficients of 0.996 and 0.997, respectively. The detection limits (3 delta) for UA and AA were 1.1 x 10(-6) mol L-1 and 9.2 x 10(-7) mol L-1, respectively. The modified electrode shows good sensitivity, selectivity and stability, and has been applied to the determination of UA and AA simultaneously in human urine samples with satisfactory results.