Owing to the four features summarized in this review, i.e., low-cost resource, high-power performance, all-climate adaptability and full-batty recyclability, sodium ion batteries show great promise for large-scale energy storage systems used for the application of renewable energy sources and smart grids.

High-loading sulfur electrode with ultrahigh areal capacity was easily achieved by exploiting a robust and efficient biopolymer network binder.

A new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agent based on the trimetallic nitride templated (TNT) metallofullerene, Gd 3 N@C 80 , was synthesized by a facile method in high yield. The observed longitudinal and transverse relaxivities, r 1 and r 2 , for water hydrogens in the presence of the watersoluble gadofullerene 2, Gd 3 N@C 80 (OH)~2 6 (CH 2 CH 2 COOM)~1 6 (M = Na or H), are 207 and 282 mM -1 s -1 (per C 80 cage) at 2.4 T, respectively; these values are 50 times larger than those of Gd 3+ poly(aminocarboxylate) complexes, such as commercial Omniscan ® and Magnevist ® . This high 1 H relaxivity for this new hydroxylated and carboxylated gadofullerene derivative provides high signal enhancement at significantly lower Gd concentration as demonstrated by in vitro and in vivo MRI studies. Dynamic light scattering data reveal a unimodal size distribution with an average hydrodynamic radius of ca. 78 nm in pure water (pH = 7), which is significantly different from other hydroxylated or carboxylated fullerene and metallofullerene derivatives reported to date. Agarose gel infusion results indicate that the gadofullerene 2 displayed diffusion properties different from that of commercial Omniscan ® and those of PEG5000 modified Gd 3 N@C 80 . The reactive carboxyl functionality present on this highly efficient contrast agent may also serve as a precursor for biomarker tissue-targeting purposes.