An artificial solid electrolyte interphases (SEI) layer was established on the lithium metal anode via magnetron sputtering deposition for promoting uniform lithium electrodeposition.

A “cation-anion regulation” synergistic anode stabilizes high-energy lithium metal batteries.

As advanced electrodes for direct alcohol fuel cells, graphene-Pd and graphene-Pt composites with a trace of SnO(2) have been successfully synthesized by a modified electroless plating technique. The surface of graphene oxide is first sensitized by Sn(2+) ions, and subsequently, Pd or Pt nanoparticles are deposited on the surface of graphene oxide. Finally, graphene oxide was reduced to graphene by further adding NaBH(4). Compared to other carbon-(e.g., Vulcan XC-72R) supported Pd and Pt, the resultant graphene-Pd and Pt composites exhibit better electrocatalytic activity and long-term stability toward alcohol electrooxidation. Additionally, a trace amount of SnO(2) formed around active catalysts may also be beneficial to the enhancement of electrochemical activity.

The predominant synergic effect of GQDs and SrRuO3CEs drives faster ion diffusions and electron transfer, thereby contributing to excellent catalytic activity of the SRO–GQD CE towards I3−reduction.

(1 of 10)Uncontrollable dendritic behavior and infinite volume expansion in alkali metal anode results in the severe safety hazards and short lifespan for high-energy batteries. Constructing a stable host with superior Na/Li-philic properties is a prerequisite for commercialization. Here, it is demonstrated that the small Gibbs free energy change in the reaction between metal oxide (Co 3 O 4 , SnO 2 , and CuO) and alkali metal is key for metal infusion. The as-prepared hierarchical Co 3 O 4 nanofiber-carbon sheet (CS) skeleton shows improved wettability toward molten Li/Na. The 3D carbon sheet serves as a primary framework, offering adequate lithium nucleation sites and sufficient electrolyte/electrode contact for fast charge transfer. The secondary framework of Co/Li 2 O nanofibers provides physical confinement of deposited Li and further redistributes the Li + flux on each carbon fiber, which is verified by COMSOL Multiphysics simulations. Due to the uniform deposition behavior and near-zero volume change, modified symmetrical Li/Li cells can operate under an ultrahigh current density of 20 mA cm −2 for more than 120 cycles. When paired with LiFePO 4 cathodes, the Li/Co-CS cell shows low polarization and 88.4% capacity retention after 200 cycles under 2 C. Convincing improvement can also be observed in Na/Co-CS symmetrical cells applying NaClO 4 -based electrolyte. These results illustrate a significant improvement in developing safe and stable alkali metal batteries.

Ordered WO 3 nanowire arrays on carbon cloth (WNCC) conductive substrates are successfully prepared by a facile hydrothermal method. The as-prepared samples were characterized by XRD, SEM and TEM and directly functionalized as supercapacitor (SC) and lithium-ion battery (LIB) electrodes without using any ancillary materials such as carbon black or binder. The unique structural features endow them with excellent electrochemical performance. The SCs demonstrate high specific capacitance of 521 F g À1 at 1 A g À1 and 5.21 F cm À2 at 10 A cm À2 and excellent cyclic performance with nearly 100% capacity retention after 2000 cycles at a current density of 3 A g À1 . All-solid-state SCs based on the integrated electrodes are also presented, exhibiting high flexibility without obvious performance declination at different bending states. A high capacity of 662 mA h g À1 after 140 cycles at a 0.28 C rate and excellent rate capabilities are also obtained for LIBs due to the unique structures of the integrated electrodes.

Interfacial stability is considered as a priority in high-energy lithium metal batteries (LMBs), stemming from the extremely low electrochemical potential of Li metal and its intrinsic high reactivity. The naturally grown solid−electrolyte interphase (SEI) containing organic compositions (e.g., R 1 OCOOR 2 , ROLi) and inorganic compositions (e.g., Li 2 CO 3 , Li 3 N) is thermodynamically unstable against Li metal. Herein, we created a highly stable organic interphase (HSOI) with a well-tuned LUMO energy to improve the antireduction ability of SEI components and enhance the long-term cyclability of LMBs. Employing trifluoromethyl functional groups (−CF 3 ) in the molecule structure of a SEI can significantly tune the orbital energies and the HOMO−LUMO gap due to the strong electron-withdrawing property of −CF 3 functional groups. With the protection of HSOI, cells can cycle more than 1300 h, which is 5-fold improvement in cell lifetime, demonstrating the vital role of the HSOI layer on the stability of LMBs.

of lithium metal batteries (LMBs). [3][4][5] Compared with intercalation compounds such as graphite in LIBs, lithium metal anode possesses an extremely high theoretical capacity of 3860 mA h g −1 with a very low redox potential (−3.04 V vs the standard hydrogen electrode), making it an attractive anode material to pair with highenergy conversion cathodes such as sulfur and oxygen. [6,7] Unfortunately, the application of lithium metal is full of challenges that have puzzled researchers for more than 40 years. [8] The most notorious one is that Li metal problematically forms dendrites during repeated cycling. [9] Owing to the multi-component solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer and uneven anode substrate, inhomogeneous lithium-ion flux is formed at the electrode/electrolyte interface, leading to nonuniform lithium eletrodeposition on the metal surface. The fresh metallic tip acts as an active site, which induces the ramified growth of lithium dendrite, resulting in cell short-circuit and low coulombic efficiency. This dendrite formation behavior can be much severe at high current densities. Another serious problem lies in electrode volume expansion originated from the repeated plating/ stripping process. [10,11] As a "hostless" electrode, lithium metal tends to be fully stripped when used in practical full cells and can hardly travel back to the same location during plating, causing mechanical instability of electrode/separator interface as well as internal stress fluctuation. As a result, the capacity of LMBs fades sharply during cycling.Over the past four decades, many up-and-coming strategies have been developed to enhance the electrochemical performance of Li metal anode and overcome the problems raised from uneven Li electrodeposition. These methods include doping electrolyte additives (Li halide, [12] ionic liquid, [13] and Cs +[14] ) and coating artificial SEIs (Li 3 PO 4 , [15] Cu 3 N, [16] LiF, [17] and Li alloy [18][19][20] ) on Li anode. More recently, researchers have focused on creating 3D scaffold/lithium metal composites as alternatives for common planar lithium. According to Chazalviel's model, the onset time of uneven deposition is inversely proportional to the current density (τ ≈ -2 J ). [21,22] Therefore, designing high-surface-area composite anode can lower J and thus prolong the cell lifetime. Based on this theory, Cu mesh, [23,24] Ni foam, [25] and other 3D conductive frameworks [26][27][28] have been developed to replace planar current The lithium metal battery (LMB) is among the most sought-after battery chemistries for high-energy storage devices. However, LMBs usually undergo uncontrollable lithium deposition and severe side reactions, which significantly impede their practical applications. Herein, a stable Al 2 O 3 -based inorganic framework with superlithiophilic lithium aluminum oxide (Li-Al-O) interphase is created via reacting Li with Al 2 O 3 nanoparticles. The Al 2 O 3 -based inorganic framework can serve as a stable Li "host," reducing the volume expansion during cell cyclin...