The demand to increase energy density of rechargeable batteries for portable electronic devices and electric vehicles and to reduce the cost for grid-scale energy storage necessitates the exploration of new chemistries of electrode materials for rechargeable batteries. The open framework-structure of Prussian-blue materials has recently been demonstrated as a promising cathode host for a variety of monovalent and multivalent cations with the tunable working voltage and discharge capacities. Recent progress toward the application of Prussian-blue cathode materials for rechargeable batteries is reviewed, with special emphasis on charge-storage mechanisms of different insertion species, factors influencing electrochemical performances, and possible approaches to overcome their intrinsic limitations.

In recent years, considerable attention has been focused on the development of sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) because of the natural abundance of raw materials and the possibility of low cost, which can alleviate the concerns of the limited lithium resources and the increasing cost of lithium-ion batteries. With the growing demand for reliable electric energy storage devices, requirements have been proposed to further increase the comprehensive performance of SIBs. Especially, the low-temperature tolerance has become an urgent technical obstacle in the practical application of SIBs, because the low operating temperature will lead to sluggish electrochemical reaction kinetics and unstable interfacial reactions, which will deteriorate the performance and even cause safety issues. On the basis of the charge-storage mechanism of SIBs, optimization of the composition and structure of electrolyte and electrode materials is crucial to building SIBs with high performance at low temperatures. In this review, the recent research progress and challenges were systematically summarized in terms of electrolytes and cathode and anode materials for SIBs operating at low temperatures. The typical full-cell configurations of SIBs at low temperatures were introduced to shed light on the fundamental research and the exploitation of SIBs with high performance for practical applications.

The V 4+ /V 3+ (3.4 V) redox couple has been welldocumented in cathode material Na 3 V 2 (PO 4 ) 3 for sodium-ion batteries. Recently, partial cation substitution at the vanadium site of Na 3 V 2 (PO 4 ) 3 has been actively explored to access the V 5+ /V 4+ redox couple to achieve high energy density. However, the V 5+ /V 4+ redox couple in partially substituted Na 3 V 2 (PO 4 ) 3 has a voltage far below its theoretical voltage in Na 3 V 2 (PO 4 ) 3 , and the access of the V 5+ /V 4+ redox reaction is very limited. In this work, we compare the extraction/insertion behavior of sodium ions from/into two isostructural compounds of Na 3 VGa(PO 4 ) 3 and Na 3 VAl(PO 4 ) 3 , found that, by DFT calculations, the lower potential of the V 5+ /V 4+ redox couple in Na 3 VM(PO 4 ) 3 (M = Ga or Al) than that in Na 3 V 2 (PO 4 ) 3 is because of the extraction/insertion of sodium ions through the V 5+ /V 4+ redox reaction at different crystallographic sites, that is, sodium ions extracting from the Na(2) site in Na 3 VM(PO 4 ) 3 while from the Na(1) site in Na 3 V 2 (PO 4 ) 3 , and further evidenced that the full access of the V 5+ /V 4+ redox reaction is restrained by the excessive diffusion activation energy in Na 3 VM(PO 4 ) 3 .

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Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have grabbed worldwide attention as an alternative to lithium-ion batteries on account of the abundance and accessibility of the sodium element in nature. For the sake of meeting the requirements for various applications containing grid-scale energy storage system, electric vehicles, and so forth, a stable and high-voltage cathode is decisive to enhance the energy and power density of SIBs. In this research, sodium super ionic conductor structured Na 3 V 1.5−x Cr 0.5+x (PO 4 ) 3 with different V/Cr ratios to balance the V 3+ /V 4+ and V 4+ / V 5+ redox couples was investigated as the potential cathode for SIBs. Among these candidates, Na 3 V 1.3 Cr 0.7 (PO 4 ) 3 manifested high energy density together with good cycling performance and rate capability. Combining the structural analysis and density functional theory calculation, the underlying mechanism of V 3+ substitution by Cr 3+ was uncovered, accounting for the improvement of electrochemical performance. KEYWORDS: sodium-ion battery, Na 3 V 1.5−x Cr 0.5+x (PO 4 ) 3 , structural analysis, density functional theory, electrochemical properties

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Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) contributes to the pathophysiological process of coronary artery disease (CAD). The expression profiles of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA) in EAT of patients with CAD have not been well characterized. We conducted high-throughput RNA sequencing to analyze the expression profiles of lncRNA in EAT of patients with CAD compared to patients without CAD. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were executed to investigate the principal functions of the significantly dysregulated mRNAs. We confirmed a dysregulated intergenic lncRNA (lincRNA) (LINC00968) by real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Subsequently, we constructed a ceRNA network associated with LINC00968, which included 49 mRNAs. Compared with the control group, lncRNAs and genes of EAT in CAD were characterized as metabolic active and pro-inflammatory profiles. The sequencing analysis detected 2539 known and 1719 novel lncRNAs. Then, we depicted both lncRNA and gene signatures of EAT in CAD, featuring dysregulation of genes involved in metabolism, nuclear receptor transcriptional activity, antigen presentation, chemokine signaling, and inflammation. Finally, we identified a ceRNA network as candidate modulator in EAT and its potential role in CAD. We showed the expression profiles of specific EAT lncRNA and mRNA in CAD, and a selected non-coding associated ceRNA regulatory network, which taken together, may contribute to a better understanding of CAD mechanism and provide potential therapeutic targets.Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, No. ChiCTR1900024782.