Recent advances of metal telluride anodes for high-performance lithium/sodium-ion batteries

Recent advances of metal telluride anodes for high-performance lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), which is important electrochemical energy storage technologies with high energy density and environmental benignity

A comprehensive review of cathode materials for Na-air batteries

In recent years, rechargeable sodium-air batteries have attracted extensive attention and shown rapid development for use in the field of electrochemical energy storage owing to low costs, abundance of the precursor resources, high theoretical specific capacity, and high energy density, all of which have contributed to making them one of the most promising alternatives to lithium-ion batteries. Despite the numerous advantages, Na-air batteries also face certain challenges, such as poor charge-discharge reversibility at the cathode, formation of sodium dendrites at the anode, and low catalytic activity for oxygen reduction/evolution reactions. Thus, designing efficient and stable air cathode materials is significant for the development and practical application of Na-air batteries. Therefore, this paper aims to review the advances related to the development of air cathodes in Na-air batteries in the last decade. Here, research on the secondary Na-air batteries are briefly summarized and divided into two categories based on their electrolyte composition: organic Na-air batteries and hybrid Na-air batteries. The air cathode materials are reviewed and categorised based on the material type into the following: carbon materials, transition metals and metal oxides, noble metals, perovskites and spinel oxides, metal-organic frameworks and their derivatives, pyrochlore oxides, and other cathode materials. Furthermore, work in previous studies applying in situ spectroelectrochemical techniques, including Infrared spectroscopy, electron spin resonance, UV/Vis spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy, to develop the structure-performance correlations and redox reaction mechanisms of Na-air batteries are summarised. Finally, the challenges faced by Na-air batteries and the prospect of future work are discussed in the conclusions. This review is thus expected to provide a comprehensive understanding of the trends and issues related to the development of Na-air batteries for practical industrial applications

Low-temperature liquid platinum catalyst

Insights into metal–matrix interactions in atomically dispersed catalytic systems are necessary to exploit the true catalytic activity of isolated metal atoms. Distinct from catalytic atoms spatially separated but immobile in a solid matrix, here we demonstrate that a trace amount of platinum naturally dissolved in liquid gallium can drive a range of catalytic reactions with enhanced kinetics at low temperature (318 to 343 K). Molecular simulations provide evidence that the platinum atoms remain in a liquid state in the gallium matrix without atomic segregation and activate the surrounding gallium atoms for catalysis. When used for electrochemical methanol oxidation, the surface platinum atoms in the gallium–platinum system exhibit an activity of ~2.8×107mAmgPt−1, three orders of magnitude higher than existing solid platinum catalysts. Such a liquid catalyst system, with a dynamic interface, sets a foundation for future exploration of high-throughput catalysis. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Recent advances in in situ and operando characterization techniques for Li7La3Zr2O12-based solid-state lithium batteries

Li7La3Zr2O12 (LLZO)-based solid-state Li batteries (SSLBs) have emerged as one of the most promising energy storage systems due to the potential advantages of solid-state electrolytes (SSEs), such as ionic conductivity, mechanical strength, chemical stability and electrochemical stability. However, there remain several scientific and technical obstacles that need to be tackled before they can be commercialised. The main issues include the degradation and deterioration of SSEs and electrode materials, ambiguity in the Li+ migration routes in SSEs, and interface compatibility between SSEs and electrodes during the charging and discharging processes. Using conventional ex situ characterization techniques to unravel the reasons that lead to these adverse results often requires disassembly of the battery after operation. The sample may be contaminated during the disassembly process, resulting in changes in the material properties within the battery. In contrast, in situ/operando characterization techniques can capture dynamic information during cycling, enabling real-time monitoring of batteries. Therefore, in this review, we briefly illustrate the key challenges currently faced by LLZO-based SSLBs, review recent efforts to study LLZO-based SSLBs using various in situ/operando microscopy and spectroscopy techniques, and elaborate on the capabilities and limitations of these in situ/operando techniques. This review paper not only presents the current challenges but also outlines future developmental prospects for the practical implementation of LLZO-based SSLBs. By identifying and addressing the remaining challenges, this review aims to enhance the comprehensive understanding of LLZO-based SSLBs. Additionally, in situ/operando characterization techniques are highlighted as a promising avenue for future research. The findings presented here can serve as a reference for battery research and provide valuable insights for the development of different types of solid-state batteries

Highly catalytically active CeO2-: X-based heterojunction nanostructures with mixed micro/meso-porous architectures

The architectural design of nanocatalysts plays a critical role in the achievement of high densities of active sites but current technologies are hindered by process complexity and limited scaleability. The present work introduces a rapid, flexible, and template-free method to synthesize three-dimensional (3D), mesoporous, CeO2-x nanostructures comprised of extremely thin holey two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets of centimetre-scale. The process leverages the controlled conversion of stacked nanosheets of a newly developed Ce-based coordination polymer into a range of stable oxide morphologies controllably differentiated by the oxidation kinetics. The resultant polycrystalline, hybrid, 2D-3D CeO2-x exhibits high densities of defects and surface area as high as 251 m2 g-1, which yield an outstanding CO conversion performance (T90% = 148 °C) for all oxides. Modification by the creation of heterojunction nanostructures using transition metal oxides (TMOs) results in further improvements in performance (T90% = 88 °C), which are interpreted in terms of the active sites associated with the TMOs that are identified through structural analyses and density functional theory (DFT) simulations. This unparalleled catalytic performance for CO conversion is possible through the ultra-high surface areas, defect densities, and pore volumes. This technology offers the capacity to establish efficient pathways to engineer nanostructures of advanced functionalities for catalysis

Assembly of cerium-based coordination polymer into variant polycrystalline 2D-3D CeO2-x nanostructures

The present work reports a simple and rapid disassembly/reassembly approach at room temperature to tailor functional metal oxides of 2D and 3D architectures.</p