Lithium–sulfur batteries possess the merits of low cost and high theoretical energy density but suffer from the shuttle effect of lithium polysulfides and slow redox kinetics of sulfur. Herein, novel Co0.85Se nanoparticles embedded in nitrogen-doped carbon nanosheet arrays (Co0.85Se/NC) were constructed on carbon cloth as the self-supported host for a sulfur cathode using a facile fabrication strategy. The interconnected porous carbon-based structure of the Co0.85Se/NC could facilitate the rapid electron and ion transfer kinetics. The embedded Co0.85Se nanoparticles can effectively capture and catalyze lithium polysulfides, thus accelerating the redox kinetics and stabilizing sulfur cathodes. Therefore, the Co0.85Se/NC-S cathode could maintain a stable cycle performance for 400 cycles at 1C and deliver a high discharge specific capacity of 1361, 1001, and 810 mAh g–1 at current densities of 0.1, 1, and 3C, respectively. This work provides an efficient design strategy for high-performance lithium–sulfur batteries with high energy densities.

Lithium is deemed as the anticipated anode for the next-generation energy storage system. Nevertheless, its commercial application is greatly hindered by the uneven deposition and volume expansion in the process of lithium plating and stripping. Here, a three-dimensional lithiophilic current collector with in situ grown CuO nanowire arrays on Cu foam has been demonstrated to effectively ameliorate the above problems. Beneficial from the large specific surface area and lithiophilicity properties, CuO nanowire arrays prominently diminish the local current density and nucleation overpotential, resulting in uniform lithium deposition. Moreover, the optimized anode exhibits a prolonged lifespan for more than 280 cycles at 0.5 mA cm–2 and a high coulombic efficiency of 95.5% for over 150 cycles at 3 mA cm–2 in an assembled half cell, which is maintained steadily for 540 h in a symmetric cell with good capacity retention capabilities in a full cell. This facile approach provides a feasible strategy to realize stable lithium deposition and a high-performance lithium metal anode.

As miniaturized energy storage devices, flexible planar microsupercapacitors (MSCs) with high performance have broad applications on flexible electronics. However, traditional electrode fabrication methods (photolithography, laser writing, inkjet printing, etc.) are complex and expensive. In this work, a patterned interdigital electrode, which was prepared with a hard template of hydrophobic glue paper, was proposed. Peelable nickel nanocone arrays (NNAs) and polypyrrole nanotubes (PPyNTs) were electrochemically deposited on the substrate as 3D conductive frames and active material, respectively. The device demonstrates an areal capacitance up to 60.2 mF cm–2, high capacitance retention of 84.3% after 5000 cycles, as well as impressive mechanical performance that can work after 180° bending. Furthermore, a high energy density of 5.35 μWh cm–2 and power density of 2 mW cm–2 were obtained. Lastly, the fabricated MSCs presented great potential to integrate with series and parallel.

Self-supported electrodes represent a novel architecture for better performing lithium ion batteries. However, lower areal capacity restricts their commercial application. Here, we explore a facial strategy to increase the areal capacity without sacrificing the lithium storage performance. A hierarchical CuO-Ge hybrid film electrode will not only provide high areal capacity but also outstanding lithium storage performance for lithium ion battery anode. Benefiting from the favorable structural advance as well as the synergic effect of the Ge film and CuO NWs array, the hybrid electrode exhibits a high areal capacity up to 3.81 mA h cm −2 , good cycling stability (a capacity retention of 90.5% after 150 cycles), and superior rate performance (77.4% capacity remains even when the current density increased to 10 times higher).

As a key factor for fast-charging lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), high-rate anode materials that can recharge in a few minutes have aroused increasing attention. However, high-rate performance is always accompanied by...