Transition‐metal (Fe, Co, Ni) based metal‐organic framework materials with controllable structures, large surface areas and adjustable pore sizes have attracted wide research interest for use in next‐generation electrochemical energy‐storage devices. This review introduces the synthesis of transition‐metal (Fe, Co, Ni) based metal‐organic frameworks and their derivatives with the focus on their application in supercapacitors and batteries.

Lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs) have been widely used in the field of portable electric devices because of their high energy density and long cycling life. To further improve the performance of LIBs, it is of great importance to develop new electrode materials. Various transition metal oxides (TMOs) have been extensively investigated as electrode materials for LIBs. According to the reaction mechanism, there are mainly two kinds of TMOs, one is based on conversion reaction and the other is based on intercalation/deintercalation reaction. Recently, hierarchically nanostructured TMOs have become a hot research area in the field of LIBs. Hierarchical architecture can provide numerous accessible electroactive sites for redox reactions, shorten the diffusion distance of Li‐ion during the reaction, and accommodate volume expansion during cycling. With rapid research progress in this field, a timely account of this advanced technology is highly necessary. Here, the research progress on the synthesis methods, morphological characteristics, and electrochemical performances of hierarchically nanostructured TMOs for LIBs is summarized and discussed. Some relevant prospects are also proposed.

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Research progress in the application of carbon nanotube-based materials in lithium–sulfur batteries is summarized and evaluated.

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Functionalizing the redox-active tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) core with groups capable of coordination to metals provides new perspectives on the modulation of architectures and electronic properties of organic−inorganic hybrid materials. With a view to extending this concept, we have now synthesized nickel bis(dithiolene-dibenzoic acid), [Ni(C 2 S 2 (C 6 H 4 COOH) 2 ) 2 ], which can be considered as the inorganic analogue of the organic tetrathiafulvalene-tetrabenzoic acid (H 4 TTFTB). Likewise, [Ni(C 2 S 2 (C 6 H 4 COOH) 2 ) 2 ] is a redox-active linker for new functional metal−organic frameworks, as demonstrated here with the synthesis of(2) but is a better electrochemical glucose sensor due to the multiple oxidation−reduction states of the [NiS 4 ] core, which allow glucose to be oxidized to glucolactone by the high oxidation state [NiS 4 ] center. As a non-enzymatic glucose sensor, 1 on Cu foam (CF), 1-CF, was synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal method and exhibited an excellent electrochemical performance. The fabricated 1-CF electrode offers a high sensitivity of 27.9 A M −1 cm −2 , with a wide linear detection range from 2.0 × 10 −6 to 2.0 × 10 −3 M, a low detection limit of 1.0 × 10 −7 M (signal/noise = 3), and satisfactory stability and reproducibility.

An as-synthesised hollow carbon nanoparticle (HC-NP) sample has been proved to be a relatively complex mixture, and its complexity can be reduced significantly by high-performance liquid chromatography. An unprecedented reduction in such complexity can reveal fractions of HC-NP with unique luminescence properties. While the UV-vis absorption profile for the HC-NP mixture is featureless, the HC-NP fractions do possess unique absorption bands and specific emission wavelengths. The HC-NP fractions are fully anatomised by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry, displaying their fragmentation mass ion features. The shell thickness and crystal lattices of the selected HC-NP fractions are determined as 6.13, 8.31, 2.22, and 8.66 nm, and 0.37, 0.35, 0.33, and 0.32 nm by transmission electron microscopy, respectively. The fractionated HC-NP show profound differences in emission quantum yield, allowing for brighter HC-NP to be isolated from an apparent low quantum yield mixture. Finally, red, green and blue emissive HC-NP are isolated from the as-synthesised HC-NP sample. They show good photostability and have been demonstrated to be excellent probes for cellular imaging.