Multimodal porous CNT@TiO 2 core-sheath coaxial nanocables have been constructed by a sol-gel method and post-calcination in the presence of polymer nanotubes acting as a template and carbon source. The composite exhibits excellent electrochemical properties, attaining a high discharge capacity of 231 mA h g À1 at 1000 mA g À1 for up to 110 cycles.

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Coal-based multiscale porous carbon materials (CPCs) have been successfully fabricated through a friendly method with NaCl, Na 2 CO 3 , and Na 2 SiO 3 as structural templates, instead of alkali activation at a relatively low temperature. The method includes freeze-drying and calcination of salts/acid-treated coal, combined with water washing to remove salts. The optimal product (CPCs-20) obtained by the above procedure displayed a high surface area of 1100 m 2 g −1 .As electrode materials of supercapacitors, CPCs-20 presented a specific capacitance of 304 F g −1 at 1 A g −1 and superior stability over 10,000 cycles at 4 A g −1 owing to its hierarchical porosity with higher surface area, promoted diffusion of electrolyte, and increased conductivity. It is also worth mentioning that a symmetric device based on CPCs-20 can light a light-emitting diode (LED) for 30 min. Furthermore, CPCs-20 as the anode for Li-ion batteries exhibited a high reversible capacity of 450 mA h g −1 at 0.2 A g −1 , excellent rate capability, and outstanding cycling performance. Therefore, there are bright prospects of our CPCs as high performance electrode material for energy storage applications.

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Through the combined method of a low-temperature reflux and calcination, porous sandwich-like CNT@FeO@C coaxial nanocables were cleverly constructed, which exhibited a favorable specific capacity of 724.8 mA h g at 1000 mA g, a satisfying rate performance and admirable Coulombic efficiency (ca. 100%) for anodes of lithium-ion batteries. Due to the enlarged contact surface area, shortened Li diffusion distance, hierarchical porosity, reasonable structural design and good structural stability, the electrochemical performance of the CNT@FeO@C nanocomposites was greatly enhanced in comparison with the traditional iron oxide anodes. So, it is a good candidate for anode materials with high performance.

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Highly crystalized Co2Mo3O8 hexagonal nanoplates interconnected by coal-derived carbon have been successfully fabricated by the molten-salt-assisted method. The formation process of the nanostructural hybrids via molten salts is proposed. The eutectic salts with low melting points act as ionic liquid solvents and “molecular templates” at high temperature, making cobalt and molybdenum salts react in the form of bare ions to get the regular Co2Mo3O8 hexagonal nanoplates interconnected by conductive carbon. In addition, the crystallinity of Co2Mo3O8 hexagonal nanoplates is increased with the help of molten salts. The effects of temperature on morphology and electrochemical performance of the composites were studied. Thanks to the unique structure design, the optimal composite obtained by this simple low-cost strategy exhibits remarkable electrochemical performance as anodes for lithium-ion batteries, which reveals a high reversible capacity of 1075 mA h g–1 at 200 mA g–1 and 596 mA h g–1 at 1000 mA g–1 after 100 cycles. More importantly, the sample shows good rate capability with a high capacity of 533 mA h g–1 at a high current density of 4000 mA g–1. The molten-salt-assisted method is also applicable to design and synthesize other metal oxide-based Li-ion battery anodes.